DUSHANBE, April 22, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik Air has been forced to raise passenger fares because Dushanbe Airport and Tajikaeronavigatsiya (Tajik air navigation) have unreasonably raised fees for services they render, Valery Sahripov, the first deputy director general, Tajik Air, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe today.

“We have applied to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, asking to review tariffs set by the companies serving flights and aircraft of Tajik Air,” said Sharipov, “The passenger fares will not be lowered until tariffs for domestic air carriers are not lowered.”

In the meantime, Aziz Ibrohimov, the first deputy director of the Dushanbe airport, noted that arguments of the national air carrier were baseless.

According to him, fees for services provided by the airport have not been raised.  “They were set during the reorganization of the air company Tajik Air,” said Ibrohimov, “Moreover, the tariffs were set by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and approved by the State Antimonopoly Service under the Government of Tajikistan.”

Anvar Makhsoudov, the director general of the state unitary enterprise, Tajikaeronavigatsiya, also confirmed that service fees had not been raised.  “The service fee were not raised; moreover, they were lowered by 50 percent for domestic air carriers,” Makhsoudov said.

Tajik Air (Tajikistan Airlines) is the national airline based in Dushanbe Airport, and retains a secondary focus point at Khujand Airport, Sughd province.