Somon Air (Russian and Tajik: Сомон Эйр) is a private airline in Tajikistan headquartered in Dushanbe[1] and based at Dushanbe International Airport.
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| Founded | 2007 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | February 2008 | ||||||
| Hubs | Dushanbe International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 29 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Dushanbe, Tajikistan | ||||||
| Key people | Abdulkosim Valiev (CEO) | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
History
editThe airline started operating on 5 February 2008 with regular flights to Moscow. Somon Air also serves as the official carrier of President of the Republic of Tajikistan and other Tajikistan high-ranking officials.[2][3] Since its formation, Somon Air has been primarily focused on passenger service and transportation to Eastern Europe and other locations.[2][3] Most flights to international destinations operate from Dushanbe.[2][3]
In early August 2009, Somon Air joined IATA's (International Air Transport Association) IATA Billing and Settlement Plan.[2][3] 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.[3] 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.[2]
In June 2013, Somon Air became a member of IATA Clearing House which provides a service for settling of interline accounts, airline-associated companies and travel partners.[2][3]
In September 2017, Somon Air obtained IATA membership[2][3] and is working on signing interline agreements with some of major airlines from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe and Asia.[2]
In July 2019, Somon Air opened an aviation training center for aviation specialists at its headquarters in Dushanbe.[citation needed]
On 18 December 2019, Somon Air received the award "Brand of the Year 2019" bestowed by the Republic of Tajikistan.[citation needed]
On August 30, 2022, Somon Air received the first of two Boeing 737-800 aircraft.[citation needed]
On September 8, 2022, the airline received its second Boeing 737-800 aircraft.[citation needed]
Destinations
editSomon Air flies to following destinations as of June 2022:[4]
Fleet
edit
Current fleet
editThe Somon Air fleet comprises the following aircraft (as of November 2019):[17]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus Helicopters H125 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 4 | 1 | — | 189 | 189 | |
| Boeing 737-900ER | 2 | — | 16 | 168 | 184 | |
| Mil Mi-8-AMT | 1 | — | — | — | 24 | |
| Total | 8 | 1 | ||||
Fleet development
editSomon Air signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase a Boeing 787-8 at the 2018 Dubai Air Show for further fleet development.[18] This has not yet been taken up. The company still hoped to launch wide-body flights that year with a 767-300ER.[19][20] The airline was considering the purchase of four Embraer 190-E2, to replace older Boeing 737 Classic aircraft. The airline planned to commence service of the new Embraers by the end of 2018, but by September 2019 there had been no further announcement.[21] In November 2019 Somon Air signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Airbus group of companies under which the airline intends to acquire helicopters and the latest Airbus family aircraft from direct manufacturer.[22]
References
edit- ^ "Main." Somon Air. Retrieved on 27 February 2012. "Contacts: 40, Titova Str. Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 734012 " - Russian: "734012, Таджикистан, Душанбе, ул. Титова, 40"
- ^ a b c d e f g h "How Somon Air is reaching new peaks | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Baldwin, Jaimie (25 March 2018). "Somon Air — Leading the Way in Tajikistan". Airways Magazine. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ "Timetable". www.somonair.com. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Somon destinations mentioned
- ^ "Somon Air resumed flights to Urumqi and increased the frequency of flights to Novosibirsk". somonair.com. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "Somon Air Adds Khudzhand – Urumqi From May 2024". AeroRoutes. 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "The first direct flight Dushanbe-Tbilisi presented in the Tajik capital on April 27 | Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus". asiaplustj.info. Asia-Plus Media Group. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
- ^ "Somon Air to launch Dushanbe-Delhi service from Dec-2019". CAPA. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ "Tajik Air resumes its flights to India's New Delhi, Somon Air to fly there from December 1st – C.A.A.N". caan.asia. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ^ "SOMON AIR BEGINS IRAN SERVICE IN 1Q23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Somon Air 1Q24 International Network Expansion". AeroRoutes. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ "Somon Air Adds Astana Service From April 2024". AeroRoutes. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ Liu, Jim (1 July 2024). "Somon Air Schedules Islamabad July 2024 Launch". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ a b Liu, Jim (15 July 2019). "Somon Air expands Khudzhand network in S19". Routesonline. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Somon Air 1Q24 Khudzhand - Middle East network additions". aeroroutes.com. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)". Airliner World (November 2016): 33.
- ^ "Новости Авиакомпания Somon Air заказала новый самолет Boeing 787". ato.ru. 20 November 2017.
- ^ "Somon Air Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net.
- ^ "How Somon Air is reaching new peaks". 19 September 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "Авиакомпания Somon Air добавит в парк четыре самолета Embraer E190-E2". ato.ru. 4 March 2018.
- ^ "News Archive". www.somonair.com.
External links
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Media related to Somon Air at Wikimedia Commons- Official website
