DUSHANBE, July 25, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Over the first six months of this year, Tajik national air carrier, Tajik Air, accounted for 47.9 percent of the overall volume of air transportation to and from Tajikistan, which is 1.4 percent more than in the same period of last year, according to report posted on Tajik Air’s official website.

However, air passenger traffic has decreased over the report period and Tajik Air has carried passengers in January-June 2009 11.1 percent less than in the same period of last year.

Over the same six-month period, Tajik Air has carried 160,700 passengers to the CIS states and 24,700 passengers to the far abroad countries.  Its share in international carriages was 38.9 percent, which is 1.9 percent more than in the same period of 2008.

In January-June 2009, 18 foreign air companies, including nine Russian ones, have operated flights to and from Tajikistan, having carried 242,200 passengers, which is 20.6 percent fewer than in the same period of 2008.

The Tajik national air carrier has launched new flights to the Russian Federation this year.  Since March this year, Tajik Air has operated regular flights from Kulob to Moscow and from Qurghon Teppa to Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.  Since June, it has operated flights from Dushanbe to Sochi and Irkutsk.

Besides, Tajik Air now also operates charter flights from Khujand to Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Samara, Rostov am Don, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk and Tyumen.

The Tajik national airline is currently working on launching air routes from Dushanbe to Munich (Germany), New Delhi (India) and Pakistan.