DUSHANBE, March 9, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Tajik air company, Somon Air, plans to purchase two Boeing Next Generation aircraft this year.

According to the Somon Air press service, the decision to purchase new aircraft has been made by the company’s board of director recently.

“Two new aircraft – Boeing 737-900 and Boeing 737-300 – will arrive in Tajikistan in the autumn,” the source said.

From 2011 to 2017, Somon Air is said to purchase four 737-300s.  The delivery of the aircraft will be conducted through Being Capital and the financial aspect of the deal is supervised by Somon Capital.

The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737 after the introduction of the -300/-400/-500 Classic series. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners.  Produced since 1996 by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, 3,528 737NG aircraft have been delivered as of January 2011.

Somon Air is an airline based in Dushanbe.  It is Tajikistan''s first private airline.  Somon Air is also the first airline in Tajikistan to launch an online booking system. The airline uses the Boeing 737 in its fleet.

As of march 2011, Somon Air has operated to the following destinations: China (Urumqi); Germany (Frankfurt am Main); Kazakhstan (Almaty); Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Orenburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Sochi, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhnevartovsk and Khanty-Mansiysk); Tajikistan (Khujand): Turkey (Istanbul); and United Arab Emirates (Dubai).

The Somon Air fleet now includes two Boeing 737-800s and as part of the airline''s current expansion, it plans to increase its total fleet to six aircraft in the future.