DUSHANBE, March 25, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Tajikistan’s private air carrier, Somon Air, has obtained another Western type aircraft.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the Somoni Air director general Muzaffar Ishoqov said they had obtained another Boeing 737-800 due to a loan taken from one of Tajik banks.  He refrained from giving further details of the agreement operating agreement, noting that it was a commercial secret.  He just said that the plane was obtained in the United States.

The plane is named after founder of Tajik Soviet literature Sadriddin Ayni.  We will recall that the first Being 737-800 obtained by Somon Air was named after Ismoili Somoni.

The second Boeing 737-800 seating 172 passengers in two class layout, including 16 seats for business class, was ferried to Dushanbe airport on March 22, Ishoqov said.  According to him, the aircraft will be used to operate flights on international air routes, including Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and Urumqi (China).  “The first Boeing 737-800 is currently used to operate flights to Moscow and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” the director general said.

He added that Somon Air planned to launch new air routes and increase frequency of flights.  “We hope to launch air routes to Istanbul New Delhi, Tehran, Bangkok and other cities of the world in the future,” Ishoqov said.

As it had been reported earlier, Somon Air was granted operating license and certificate of conformity in 2006.

The 737-800 is a stretched version of the 737-700, and replaces the 737-400. It also filled the gap left by Boeing''s discontinuation of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-90 after Boeing''s merger with McDonnell Douglas.  The -800 was launched by Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUlfly) in 1994 and entered service in 1998. The 737-800 seats 162 passengers in a two class layout, or 189 in one class, and competes with the A320.  For many airlines in the U.S., the 737-800 replaced aging Boeing 727-200 trijets and McDonnell MD-80 and MD-90 series aircraft.