DUSHANBE -- The Tajik carrier Somon Air Friday (February 10) conducted the first nonstop Dushanbe-to-Tashkent flight since 1992, CA-News.org reported.
Nonstop flights between the capitals ceased in 1992, when the Tajik civil war broke out. The war ended in 1997.
Twenty passengers flew on the Friday flight, including leaders of the Tajik Transport Ministry, Somon Air and Dushanbe International Airport (DIA) and reporters, said Jamilya Khuseinova, DIA spokeswoman, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)'s Tajik service.
The flight was experimental, and regular non-stop service will begin February 20, Tom Hallam, the CEO of Somon Air, told reporters.
Somon Air intends to conduct nonstop service between Dushanbe and Tashkent once a week in the winter and twice a week in the summer, according to a company statement, RFE/RL reported.
Uzbekistani and Tajik delegations agreed in talks in Dushanbe November 30 to resume nonstop flights between their capitals in early 2017, RFE/RL added.
