Tajikistan Aviation
Key airport information may also be found at: World Aero Data information on Tajikistan
Commercial Aviation
Commercial aviation in Tajikistan is regulated by the Central Directorate of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Transport. Airports operate as separate entities under this authority, with the exception of Khorog, which comes under Dushanbe International Airport because of its need for subsidies.
Tajikistan has four international airports (Dushanbe, Khujand, Kulyab and Kurgantyube) with the national airline Tajik Air (government) 12 sites and Somon Air (private) 22 sites, providing service to 9 countries (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Iran UAE, India and Germany) and around 20 international airlines. A further Tajikistan-based airline company is East Air.
The largest number of flights is from all four international airports to 15 to 20 cities in Russia by around 8 Russian airlines and the two Tajikistan carriers.
Scheduled domestic flights are limited to Dushanbe – Khujand (Somon Air 737) and Dushanbe – Khorog (Tajik Air / 17 passenger Dornier).
Between Dushanbe and Kabul there are two flights weekly on the Afghan carrier KamAir.
Tajik Air, Somon Air, KamAir and a number of the Russian airlines flying to Tajikistan are rated as Category C and not recommended for use by UN staff (Please check with UNDSS about use of airlines in specific circumstances). Dushanbe – Kabul travel is through Dubai (FlyDubai) or Istanbul (Turkish Airlines).
There are several other airports in the country including Aini improved with financing from India and Murghab in the Pamirs. They have no regular flights and as road improvements now keep highways open all winter they are infrequently used.
There is one large military airport southwest of Dushanbe though Tajikistan’s air force has few aircraft.
For more information on government agency and airport company contact information, please see the following links:
4.1 Tajikistan Government Contact List
4.4 Tajikistan Port and Waterways Company Contact List
Humanitarian and Non-commercial Aviation
Tajik authorities are very cooperative in granting use of air space and landing rights to humanitarian organizations.
Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) operates a twice-weekly helicopter service (Augusta Bell 10 passenger) between Dushanbe and Khorog. Its helicopters are sometimes rotated to Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. His Highness travelled in a private jet from Geneva headquarters to Dushanbe and Khorog a number of times.
Since August 2013 ICRC has had four flights (18 passenger
Beechcraft) per week between Dushanbe and Kabul to shuttle the 40
relocated international staff members back to Kabul for field
visits. ICRC keeps one plane based in Dushanbe and another in Kabul
to support its Afghanistan operations with a mechanic / engineer in
each place. Solenta, a South African
company provides the aircraft, pilots and
mechanics.
The Tajik
authorities have recently renewed the permission for UNAMA aircraft
to use Tajikistan air space and land in Dushanbe. This includes
four airplanes and two helicopters. In the last three years the
UNAMA Lear jet has landed in Dushanbe an average of about 10 times
per year on a regular circuit between Kabul, Bishkek and
Dushanbe.
As recently as
2008-2009 UNHAS operated flights between Dushanbe and Kabul in
support of operations, but these were discontinued due to lower
priced flights offered by commercial carriers. UNHAS also had
flight service between Dushanbe and Kabul in 2003 -2004. Now we
have an agreement to use the
flight only in case of emergency (yearly updating the permission
for landing in Dushanbe international
airport).
Airport improvements
The Dushanbe airport is undergoing major improvements. A French company VINCI Construction Grands Projets is building a new terminal building scheduled for opening in early 2015. The new terminal will be 11,000 square meters and be able to handle 500 passengers per hour.
Japan company “Nippon Koe” allocated 8,5 milling USD for building new cargo terminal in Dushanbe Airport. From this amount till now only first and second phase are completed 39,2 % (two terminal) and project for constructing one more terminal is ongoing.
The Aga Khan
Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is planning a project to
repair the runway and build a new terminal in Khorog. Construction
work has not yet started.
Navigation Charges
Air navigation charges are the same for all airports in
the country and are partly based on an agreement adopted by several
CIS countries. This information about these fees
and air navigation rules can be found at the following
link: CAIGA
Website
A state-owned company called TajikAirNavigation collects the fees. The fees are only adjusted once every year two.
For information on Tajikistan Air Navigation Charges, please see the following document:
Tajikistan Airport Navigation Charges Information.docx
For information on Tajikistan Civil Aviation Authority, please see the following document:
Tajikistan Civil Aviation Administration Information.docx
Procedures for Foreign Registered Aircraft
In Tajikistan, the following requirements need to be applied for, presented and approved before preposition of foreign registered aircraft:
- Every flight entering into Tajikistan airspace should have over flight permission which must be received prior to the flight, from Civil Aviation Department
Request should indicate the following information:
- Flight Number
- Aircraft Registration
- Operator
- Entering Point & Time of Arrival
- Airport of Destination
For information on Tajikistan Airport contact details, please see the following link: 4.5 Tajikistan Airport Company Contact List