Hundreds of passengers have been stranded at airports in Dushanbe and Khujand stranded at airports in Dushanbe and the country’s second largest city, Khujand, since May 11 after flights to Russia on the Russian air carrier Nordwind Airlines were put on hold.
All these days, travelers are spending days and nights at the airports and say that the money they have is already running out, while representatives of the airports are feeding them promises of an imminent departure.
Asia-Plus reporters have visited the airports in Dushanbe and Khujand and learned how people are living there.
Nordwind Airlines reportedly planned to conduct flights from Khujand to Kazan, Irkutsk and Perm and from Dushanbe to St. Petersburg, Kazan and Moscow.
Meanwhile, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service cited Miroj Azizov, a representative for the airline in Tajikistan, as saying on May 16 that the Tajik Civil Aviation Agency had withdrawn the Moscow-based company's license to carry out flights on large planes to and from international airports in Dushanbe and Khujand.
Officials from the Tajik aviation regulator were reportedly not available for immediate comment.
Azizov told RFE/RL that the air company had complied with all regulations and requests by the Tajik Civil Aviation Agency, including a request to lower prices.
Nordwind Airlines, LLC is a Russian leisure airline. The company is headquartered in Moscow, and its hub is at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Nordwind Airlines primarily operates service between airports in Russia and holiday destinations around the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Nordwind flies to 75 cities in 17 countries.
