Turkmenistan Airlines has recently announced that it will restart flights between Turkmenistan's Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) and Russia's Kazan Airport (KZN). The route reopening comes as the airline has seen increasing demand for air travel between the two cities. This will be the first time the airline has flown the route since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Let's take a closer look at this international flight.
Reopened route
Nearly three years ago, the aviation industry, along with the rest of the world, was shocked by a rapidly spreading virus. This led to countless travel restrictions and border closures. These restrictions forced many airlines to terminate international and domestic routes. While airlines were allowed to continue operating many international routes, with passengers not being permitted to enter the country, these operations no longer made sense. And thus, the airlines entered into one of the most challenging business periods in airline history.
Turkmenistan Airlines was no exception to this rule. Due to travel restrictions and low demand, the airline was forced to close many international routes. Over the past two years, demand has returned as travel restrictions have eased. This past year the global air transit industry has seen a boom in demand. These high demand levels have allowed Turkmenistan Airlines to relaunch many extinct routes. This latest route reopening is a direct result of this returning demand.
According to businnesslend, The airline will operate the route twice weekly on a Boeing 737. It plans to fly the route once every Monday and once every Thursday. The route has historically been popular with leisure travelers coming from Russia. The airline hopes that Ashgabat will see a resurgence in tourism and a boost in its local economy as it reconnects many leisure travelers to a popular destination. The relaunch of this route is a part of the airline's post-pandemic recovery and expansion plan. The airline is working on expanding its international presence once again, with several of its international destinations being in Russia.
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Ongoing Russian operations
While Turkmenistan Airlines discontinued many flight services to foreign countries during the pandemic, including flights to Russia like other airlines, it did not follow the popular trend of discontinuing flights to the country this past year. When Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, many foreign airlines halted all operations to Russia. However, Turkmenistan Airlines was one of roughly 30 airlines that continued flight operations to the country despite the war. In June 2022, the airline operated a total of five flights. Despite the small number of flights, it was numbered among the airlines scrutinized by the global public for continuing flight operations to Russia.
Many airlines that continued operating to Russia did just that, continue existing operations. Whereas Turkmenistan and a handful of other airlines have increased operations to Russia. In July, the airline relaunched a route to Moscow, bringing the total number of monthly flights to Russia to 14. This latest route to KZN will further increase the number of monthly flights as the airline continues to recover from the pandemic.
What do you think of this route reopening? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: businesslend