Tajik air carries 147K passengers in the first half-year

Tajikistan’s national carrier has improved operational performance: flight time per aircraft has reached 757 hours at the end of six months 2015 against 480 hours last year (Photo by Tajik Air)

Tajikistan’s state-owned airline Tajik Air carried over 147,000 passengers on 646 flights, at the end of the first half of this year. Out of the total number, over 136,000 passengers traveled on international routes.

There is no data available on the operational results for the same period of last year, making it impossible to track the traffic dynamics. For the whole of 2015 the airline carried 311,800 passengers, including 272,700 passengers on international routes.

Tajik Air said in a statement that its revenue load had improved 25%, and the load factor had increased by 4.6 percentage points. The carrier also reported expansion of its route network, having added a new destination, Beijing. International destinations also include Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Iran and India.

Tajik Air has been operating Boeing 757-200 and Boeing 737-300 on international routes. The airline has managed to improve its operational efficiency on its medium-haul fleet, with the average flight time per aircraft having reached 757 hours against 480 hours last year.

Only seven aircraft out of the carrier’s 35-strong fleet are in operation today. For the first half of the year expenses associated with continued airworthiness amounted to 86.32 million rubes.The airline is “working on renewing the fleet with new-generation airliners,” according to its statement. An additional Boeing 757-200 and a Boeing 767 may arrive before the end of the year. There are also plans for restoring to airworthiness a Chinese Xian Aircraft MA60 regional aircraft.

Among Tajik Air’s priority objectives for 2016 are expanding fleet and route network, implementing new technologies, improving passenger experience and reducing debt liabilities.