Tajikistan’s Somon Air and Russia’s Utair will operate regular flights between Dushanbe and Moscow, which are expected to be resumed on April 1, 2021.
A source within the Civil Aviation Agency of Tajikistan says the details of resumption of regular air traffic between Tajikistan and Russia has been discussed by the country’s civil aviation authorities.
Ikrom Subhonzoda, Director of the Civil Aviation Agency of Tajikistan, and Alexander Neradko, Director of the Federal Agency for Air Transport of Russia, have reportedly came to an agreement that the companies will operate a once-weekly service each.
Recall, RIA Novosti said on March 25 that Russia will resume regular air traffic with Tajikistan, Germany, Syria, Venezuela, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan beginning of April 1, 2021.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who is also Chairperson of the Operational Headquarters on Preventing the Coronavirus Spread in Russia, reportedly held a meeting of the Operational Headquarters on this subject on March 25.
Taking into account the epidemiological situation and in agreement with the Chairman of the Government Mikhail Mishustin, the meeting adopted a decision that one flight will be operated on the Moscow-Dushanbe air route per week beginning on April 1.
Passengers on this flight must have a certificate showing the negative result of COVID-19, obtained by testing by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, and made no earlier than 72 hours (3 days) prior to arrival in Moscow.
The air traffic between Tajikistan and Russia has been suspended since March 20, 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis.
Recall, Tajik authorities have suspended all international flights. Tajikistan closed all its airports at midnight on March 19-20 due to the coronavirus concerns. Only charters flights to repatriate Tajik nationals stranded in foreign countries due to the coronavirus crisis have been operated so far.
To-date, Tajikistan has resumed regular flights to Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Istanbul (Turkey), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Kabul (Afghanistan).
Somon Air is the first private airline in Tajikistan with an office headquartered in Dushanbe. The airline operations are based at Dushanbe International Airport. The airline started operating on February 5, 2008 with regular flights to Moscow and Dubai. Somon Air also serves as the official carrier of President of the Republic of Tajikistan and other Tajikistan high-ranking officials.
Utair is a Russian airline with its head office at Khanty-Mansiysk Airport, while its hubs are at Surgut International Airport and Vnukovo International Airport. It operates scheduled domestic and some international passenger services, scheduled helicopter services, and extensive charter flights with fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in support of the oil and gas industry across western Siberia.
