When it comes to commercial aviation in the landlocked Central Asian country of Tajikistan, veteran carrier Tajik Air might spring to mind. However, did you know that this nation is also home to a 15-year-old private carrier by the name of Somon Air? Let's take a look at everything you need to know regarding this airline.
A brief history of Somon Air
While Tajik Air is an old-timer in the airline industry, having been founded 99 years ago in 1924, Somon Air is a comparatively young operator. Indeed, it has been active for just over 15 years since making its first commercial flight in 2008. This took place in February of that year, and connected Dushanbe with Moscow.
A brief biography on Somon Air's website shows that this flight used a Boeing 737-800, with this type having continued to be a mainstay of the airline's fleet throughout its 15-year operational history. Eighteen months after commencing operations, in August 2009, Somon Air became the only Tajik carrier to have joined IATA.
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Recent years have seen several interesting developments at Somon Air. While the airline has been a keen Boeing customer over the years, also taking delivery of the 737-900ER model, 2019 saw it cancel a deal that would have seen it lease a Boeing 737 MAX due to low confidence in the type. Later that year, it instead signed a memorandum of understanding to lease two Embraer E2 jets.
Where does the airline fly?
Somon Air has its headquarters in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, and its operational base can also be found at the city's Dushanbe International Airport (DYU). From here, it serves an exciting range of predominantly Asian destinations.
These include India (Delhi), Iran (Tehran), Kazakhstan (Almaty), Pakistan (Islamabad), the UAE (Dubai), and Uzbekistan (Tashkent). However, Russia is the airline's most prominent international market, and it flies to three Moscow airports.
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Further afield, Somon Air also serves a limited but diverse range of European destinations. Turkey's Istanbul Airport (IST) is one such example, but arguably the most interesting is the carrier's route to Germany's Munich Airport (MUC). These flights began operating on a weekly basis in June 2022, with the view of increasing frequency. Their block times range from six hours to six hours and 55 minutes.
An all-Boeing fleet
In terms of Somon Air's present fleet, data from ch-aviation.com shows that it only operates aircraft from the popular Boeing 737 family. Eight of these twin-engine American narrowbodies are currently at its disposal, split between two 737-300s, four 737-800s, and two 737-900ERs. Historically, it also flew a single 737-400.
At the time of writing, Somon Air's pair of Boeing 737-300s were both inactive due to being in storage, which is perhaps unsurprising given their high average age (32.2 years old). At the other end of the age spectrum, its 737-800s and 737-900ERs are much younger, with mean figures of 11.3 and 11.6 years old.
What do you make of Somon Air's history, network, and fleet? Have you ever flown with this carrier? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
Sources: ch-aviation.com, Somon Air