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Russia-Tajikistan talks on air service suspended

The talks on air service between Russia and Tajikistan will be resumed on April 22

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. The talks on air service between Russia and Tajikistan have been suspended and will be resumed on April 22, Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov said Thursday.

"I’ve been informed that they’re taking a 10-day break," he said.

Earlier TASS reported with reference to a source familiar with the talks that representatives of transport ministries of Russia and Tajikistan would hold on April 11 an extra round of air service talks, which would probably be extended until April 12.

On April 3, Russia’s Transport Ministry banned a number of flights of the Tajik airline Somon Air to Russia. The ministry restricted the airline's flights after the Tajik aviation authorities refused to allow Russia’s Yamal carrier perform all its flights from the Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow to Tajikistan.

The Tajik aviation authorities refused to approve flights of the Yamal airlines from Zhukovsky (they were to start on December 20), referring to the violation of parity in the number of carriers on both sides.

Tajikistan classifies the Zhukovsky airport in the Moscow region as an airport of the Moscow aviation hub and refuses to consider it as a regional airport.

Russia and Tajikistan have an agreement on the number of carriers covering only departures and arrivals to the airports of the Moscow hub. Under the Russian legislation, the Zhukovsky airport belongs to the Moscow region.

The two countries failed to agree on the status of the airport and limited flight connection in late 2016.