Regular flights between Dushanbe and Tashkent were supposed to be launched on February 20, following earlier agreements between aviation authorities of the two countries.
The first test flight on Boeing 737 owned by Tajik private airline, Somon Air, with 65 passengers on board was conducted on February 10, 2017.
“The Tashkent-Dushanbe-Tashkent flight, which the people of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have awaited for 25 years, was made possible by the willingness of the two nations’ leader to meet halfway,” Tom Hallam, chief executive at Tajikistan’s privately owned Somon Air, was quoted as saying by Russian RIA Novosti news agency.
The flights would make it easier for some travelers to make the trip between the two capitals. For the past 25 years, people have traveled to Uzbekistan by land through the northern Sughd province or through the southwest city of Tursunzoda.
Meanwhile on February 20, Tashkent has refused to receive the flight from Dushanbe Tajikistan’s Somon Air spread information that “Tashkent had refused to receive the flight from Dushanbe without giving any reasons for that”. Somon Air even issued a statement of apology to its customers saying the flight was cancelled due to Tashkent’s fault.
An estimated 26 passengers had been due to travel on the February 20 flight. Disappointed customers were reimbursed or given tickets for the flight from Dushanbe, to Khujand, the capital of the Tajik northern Sughd province.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan Airways, has blamed Somon Air for the cancellation of the flight. “Somon Air did not submit form “R,” which lists all the required conditions for conducting an international flight. That is the main reason for this flight to be cancelled,” a spokesperson for the airline told.
TheUzbek aviation authorities sent a letter to Somon Air saying that Somon Air has made application for operating not regular but charter flights between Dushanbe and Tashkent.
According to the source, the letter notes that the application was received only on February 19 just a day before the flight. Meanwhile, the issue of giving permission for flights must be considered by Uzbekistan’s national security service and air defense forces.
Moreover, it is necessary to get data card for operating regular flight. The data card is issued for operating regular flights during the whole season, the letter says.
The letter also notes that Somon Air has not yet opened its office in Tashkent for organizing selling tickets in Uzbekistan.
After this chain of events Somon Air condcuted internal investigation of the situation that led to the cancellation of the flight, following which the sales manager Alisher Rustamov and other persons responsible for the cancellation of the flight have been sacked and Somon Air has offered official apologies to the Uzbek partners.
An official statement released by Somon Air on February 21, in particular, says that the examination of the situation revealed that the package of documents has not been sent to the Uzbek side in time.
“All persons responsible for the situation, including the Somon Air sales manager Alisher Rustamov, have been sacked,” the statement says.
Currently, representatives of Somon Air and Uzbekistan Airways are reportedly solving technical issues and the first regular flight between Dushanbe and Tashkent is expected to be conducted within the next few days.
