MARCH 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration handed Azerbaijan a category 1 ranking, allowing Azerbaijani aircraft to fly to the US. The decision is an important boost for Azerbaijan’s aviation industry. It had previously been banned from flying to the US.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)
MARCH 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Building an airline with a bold livery and a list of international destinations is a tried and test way of boosting national prestige for emerging countries.
Turkmenistan, is appears, is embracing this tactic.
According to a report on the centralasiaonline.com website, Turkmenistan is eager to boost the presence of Turkmenistan Airlines.
Turkmenistan Airlines now flies to 17 foreign cities. This should increase to 27 by the end of the year, centralasiaonline.com quoted a Turkmenistan Airlines official as saying.
It also plans to boost domestic air travel too. It has bought 20 planes with 100 passenger capacity each to use on domestic routes and ordered five more regional airports to be built.
As well as being a useful way to improve the awareness of your country and to promote a brand, Turkmenistan’s airline extension may have a positive impact on travel for both ordinary people and also for business and investors.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government said it would buy 10 planes from Canada’s Bombardier to set up a domestic airline called Air Kazakhstan. Air Kazakhstan was the name of the Kazakh national airline in the 1990s. It was phased out with the creation of Air Astana in 2001. Kazakhstan has been investing heavily in transport infrastructure.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
JAN. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canadian train and plane manufacturer Bombardier plans to open an office in Astana, local media reported. By moving into Kazakhstan Bombardier highlights potential as a client. Bombardier makes passenger planes and Kazakhstan wants to bolster its air transport sector.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Highlighting improved relations between Georgia and Russia, Airzena Georgian Airways will resume flights to Sochi in time for the start of the Winter Olympic Games next month. Georgian Airways plans to fly twice a week from Tbilisi to the resort town on the Black Sea coast.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
NOV. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Navoi, in the centre of Uzbekistan, is becoming increasingly significant to the Uzbek government.
It has designated the area around the Soviet-built town a special economic zone, granting companies tax breaks and other incentives to invest there. It has also developed the airport speedily and aggressively.
Since 2007, Navoi airport has steadily increased in size and scope. On its website, the Navoi airport mission statement is simple and clear: “To become the respected major multi-modal logistics centre at the heart of Eurasia, by connecting international air, rail and overland routes into a single Hub based on Navoi International Airport.”
Uzbekistan has already spent millions on improving facilities at the Navoi airport — it hosts cooling and storage facilities and is able to process 300 tonnes of cargo every day — and now local media have reported that it plans another $35 million investment to improve fuelling facilities.
This is important for Uzbekistan and Central Asia because it puts it in direct competition with Manas airport near Bishkek and Almaty.
There is still a long way to go, of course. Manas is still the US military’s main transport base, although it will withdraw by the middle of next year, and Almaty, in Kazakhstan, is the region’s main commercial centre.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan Airways will charge foreign airlines for airport services at Tashkent in euros from Dec. 1, local media quoted Russian news agency RIA Novosti as saying. Analysts said the move undermines confidence in Uzbekistan’s national currency which is heavily controlled by the authorities.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan said it will spend $35m upgrading fuelling facilities at the Navoi airport in the centre of the country. This is important because Uzbekistan wants to turn the airport into the main cargo hub for Central Asia and the general Asia-Europe route.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
OCT. 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Profit at the company which runs Almaty International Airport for the first nine months of the year hit $33m, up 65% from the same period last year, media reported. A group of investors linked to Kazakhstan’s business elite owns Almaty International Airport.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Six months after the bankruptcy of Armenia’s national airline Armavia, Air Armenia began to service its first scheduled route between Yerevan and Moscow. Air Armenia, set up in 2003 as a private air transport company, is looking to fill the void that Armavia’s bankruptcy left.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)