DUSHANBE (Asia-Plus) — The Ural Airlines ticketing system has started selling tickets for scheduled flights from Tajikistan to seven Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Samara, Ekaterinburg, Kazan and Ufa. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Agency is unaware of regular flights operated by the airline and is verifying the information.

One of the airline offices said that tickets for Ural Airlines flights appeared in the sales system the day before, on April 5: “On 5 April tickets for Ural Airlines flights to seven Russian cities appeared in the system. There will be one flight per week to all cities”, said the source.

At the same time, the airline noted that tickets can be purchased not only in Dushanbe, but also in other cities of the country. “Tickets are sold not only in Dushanbe, but also in other cities of the country. They can also be purchased online and paid for with a Corti Milli card”, the airline office added.

They noted that everyone will be able to fly with these flights, as one does not need to have Russian citizenship or any other reasons, but not everyone will be able to buy tickets because the prices are very high. The ticket office added that the price of Dushanbe-Saint Petersburg tickets, for example, is 10,804 somoni, Khujand-Yekaterinburg tickets cost 11,258 somoni, Kulyab-Yekaterinburg tickets cost 8,422 somoni and Bokhtar-Yekaterinburg tickets cost 7,500 somoni. “We do not know why the price is so high, we do not determine the prices, it is the company itself that has set such prices”, the source concluded, adding that there are no tickets from these cities back to Dushanbe in the system.

At the time of publication we had not been able to reach a representative of Ural Airlines. The Civil Aviation Agency knows nothing about Ural Airlines. The day before the Civil Aviation Agency held an emergency meeting on overpriced flights from Tajikistan to Russia. Ikrom Subhonzoda, head of the Agency said:

We have received complaints from citizens regarding the sale of overpriced air tickets. We have also read about it in the media and on social media. Therefore, this morning, April 5, we held an emergency meeting with the participation of representatives of the SCNS, the Transport Prosecutor’s Office, representatives of Somon Air and UTair, as well as the Air Transportation Agency and other structures.

He said that at the meeting, they urged not to sell air tickets at inflated prices and to sell them within the standards set by the Agency. Subhonzoda said:

The agency asked the Transport Prosecutor’s Office and SCNS officials to ensure that air tickets are not sold at inflated prices. The Air Transport Agency has given strict warnings to airline and air ticket office representatives.

The Air Communications Agency, in consultation with Somon Air and UTair, which operate scheduled flights, set the price of Dushanbe-Moscow round-trip tickets at $500. In this relation, Subhonzoda said:

After analyzing and studying the costs of the airlines, we made a decision and determined the cost of round-trip air tickets at a price of $500. For example, if the Dushanbe-Moscow passenger demand is high, the airlines can put the price from $300-350 and back to Dushanbe at $150. But they should always make sure that the round-trip price does not exceed US $500.

It is unknown why these prices for Ural Airlines flights were added to the ticketing system one day later. According to Asia-Plus that Somon Air and UTair are allowed by the Civil Aviation Agency to operate scheduled flights. “Only two airlines are allowed to perform scheduled flights on the Dushanbe-Moscow route and vice versa: Somon Air and Utair. We are now checking the information that Ural Airlines can perform regular flights”, said the head of the Agency Ikrom Subhonzoda.