Somon Air
| File:SomonAir logo final.png | |||||||
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| Founded | 2007 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | February 2008 | ||||||
| Hubs | Dushanbe International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 6 | ||||||
| Destinations | 20[1] | ||||||
| Headquarters | Dushanbe, Tajikistan | ||||||
| Key people | Lloyd Paxton (CEO) Robert Bryant (Director of Engineering and Maintenance) Tom Nichols (Director of Flight Operations) | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Somon Air is the first private airline in Tajikistan with an office headquartered in Dushanbe.[2] The airline operations are based at Dushanbe International Airport. The airline started operating on February 5, 2008 with regular flights to Moscow and Dubai. Somon Air also serves as the official carrier of President of the Republic of Tajikistan and other Tajikstan high-ranking officials.
Since formation, Somon Air has been primarily focused on passenger service and transportation to Eastern Europe and other locations. Most flights to international destinations operate from Dushanbe.
Destinations
Somon Air flies to following destinations (as of March 2014):[3]
| [Hub] | Hub |
Fleet
Somon Air operates following aircraft (as of March 2014):[4][5]
| Aircraft | In Fleet | Orders | Seats | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y | Total | ||||
| Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 148 | 148 | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 189 | 189 | Equipped with winglets |
| Boeing 737-900ER | 2 | 0 | 16 | 168 | 184 | Launch customer in Central Asia & CIS |
| Total | 6 | |||||
Somon Air started operations by wet-leasing a Boeing 737-800. Now the airline owns two Boeing 737-800s. In the spring of 2010, the company wet-leased a third Boeing 737-800. In the fall of 2011, the airline obtained two new 737-900ER aircraft from Boeing. Somon Air is the first airline in Central Asia and CIS to operate 737-900 family aircraft.
Flight Geography
In line with its strategic policy, Somon Air is rapidly expanding the airline's flight network. At present, the airline operates to a total of 22 destinations. Out of the Dushanbe airport, Somon Air flies to Frankfurt am Main (Germany), Dubai (U.A.E), Istanbul (Turkey), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Urumqi (China), the Russian cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Yekaterinburg, and the northern Tajik city of Khujand. Additionally, there are regular flights out of the city of Khujand to Krasnoyarsk and St. Petersburg. Every year, the company operates flights to Saudi Arabia during the Hajj season for carriage of pilgrims (Hajis), including charter flights from Khanty-Mansiysk and Nizhnevartovsk.
International Cooperation
In the new era of globalization and international integration, partnerships between airlines play a major role in developing and expanding the aviation market. In this context, Somon Air is working on signing interline agreements with some of major airlines from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe and Asia.
In early August 2009, Somon Air joined IATA’s (International Air Transport Association) IATA Billing and Settlement Plan. As of January 2013, the airline participates in 14 BSP countries. BSP is a settlement system designed to simplify the selling, reporting and remitting procedures between passenger sales agents and airlines globally. Nowadays, BSP is used in more than 179 countries and territories worldwide serving over 400 airlines globally.
In April 2013, Somon Air jointed the IATA Multilateral Interline Traffic Agreement (MITA). The IATA Multilateral Interline Traffic Agreement (MITA) is an agreement where passengers and cargo use a standard traffic document on various transportation modes to reach the final destination on a particular routing. More than 350 of international and domestic airlines worldwide participate in MITA.
In June 2013, Somon Air became the member of IATA Clearing House The IATA Clearing House provides a secured service for an efficient and on-time settling of interline accounts between the world's airlines, airline-associated companies and travel partners.
In addition, Somon Air is closely cooperating with such well-known companies as DNATA, FRAPORT, THY, SHELL etc.
References
- ^ http://www.somonair.com/en/flights.php
- ^ "Main." Somon Air. Retrieved on 27 February 2012. "Contacts: 40, Titova Str. Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 734012 " - Russian: "734012, Таджикистан, Душанбе, ул. Титова, 40"
- ^ Somon schedule
- ^ Somom Air CH-Aviation
- ^ "Somon Air orders two 737-900ER aircraft". Flightglobal.com. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
External links
