Tajik government delegation left for the Uzbek capital of Tashkent today morning to conduct negotiations with the Uzbek side on a draft agreement on air communication between the two countries.

The Tajik delegation members reportedly include representatives of president’s executive office, ministries of foreign affairs, transport and justice as well as some other relevant agencies. 

The air communication agreement creates legal foundation for operating regular flights between Dushanbe and Tashkent, a source at the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan told Asia-Plus in an interview.  

According to him, the two sides are expected to discuss and coordinate the final version of a government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on air communication.  

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has not yet reached an agreement on operating regular flights.

Recall, the flight from Tashkent to Dushanbe was adjourned on April 4 until April 11.

According to information posted on Uzbekistan Airways’ website, it was supposed to operate twice-weekly service from Tashkent to Dushanbe on Tuesdays and Saturdays beginning on April 4.  

An official source at Dushanbe International Airport says the flight was postponed until April 11.

According to him, Uzbekistan Airways has decided to adjourn the flight because of insufficient flight load.

Meanwhile, presentation of an official opening of Uzbekistan Airways in Dushanbe is expected to be given today.  

The flight between Dushanbe and Tashkent scheduled for February 23 was also canceled.  The Dushanbe International Airport failed to name the reason why the flight did not take place.

Before that Uzbekistan canceled the first regular flight between Dushanbe and Tashkent scheduled for February 20. 

Uzbekistan Airways has sent a letter to the Tajik aviation authorities laying all the blame at Tajikistan’s privately owned air carrier, Somon Air.

The letter, in particular, argued that Somoni Air had filed a request to effect charter flights and not regular scheduled flights.  It also claimed it only received the official paperwork authorizing the route on February 19, one day before the flight.  That gave the insufficient time to adopt a decision, as the matter had to be considered by security services and air defense officials, the letter said.

The letter also noted that in order to operate scheduled flights one must obtain a form, which is issued for flight operations throughout the air navigation season. In addition, Tashkent has not yet opened an office of Somon Air and, accordingly, sale of tickets was not organized in Uzbekistan.

The sales manager of Somon Air company, Alisher Rustamov, and several of his subordinates have been fired over the cancelation of the regular flight between Dushanbe and Tashkent.

Somon Air said on February 21 that Alisher Rustamov and his subordinates were fired after an internal investigation revealed the company had failed to provide the Tashkent airport with the necessary documents to resume the service as of February 20.

With the exception of a test flight on February 10, there have been no direct civilian flights between the two capitals since 1992.