OREANDA-NEWS. June 14, 2012. On June 1, 2012, Azerbaijan airlines (AZAL) begins to operate weekly direct flights from the airport Novosibirsk (Tolmachevo) to the capital of Azerbaijan Baku. AZAL has replaced its interline-partner airline Turan Air, which was operating flights on this direction heretofore.

Representatives of Azerbaijani Diaspora in Novosibirsk, which is one of the largest in Russia, emphasize the high importance of direct flights from the capital of Siberia to Baku in order to strengthen business and cultural relations between two countries.

In addition to AZAL, flights from Novosibirsk to Baku are operated by S7 Airlines on Airbus A-320 once a week.

The Novosibirsk Airport (Tolmachevo)- the largest air hub east of the Urals located on key transit routes between Europe and Asia. The capacity on domestic flights is 1,800 passengers per hour, on international flights - 750 passengers per hour. The airport has two runways. According to business plan in 2012 The Tolmachevo Airport plans to serve 3,155 thousand passengers that are 14% higher than in 2011 and to handle more than 26,000 tons of cargo and mail (+28%).

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL)is Azerbaijan's largest airline, the national airline, part of the CJSC "Azerbaijan Hava Yollari". Its fleet consists of modern airliners Boeing 757-200, Boeing 767-300 (ER), Airbus A-319, Airbus A-320, ATR 42, ATR 72. The airline operates charter and scheduled air transportation from Baku to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Astrakhan, Antalya, Bodrum, Ankara, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Aktau, Paris, London, Dubai, Prague, Rome, Tehran, Tel Aviv , Milan, Aberdeen, Trabzon, Simferopol, Kiev, and Izmir. Code-sharing agreements - to Vienna, Riga, Lvov, Frankfurt, Saratov, Khanty-Mansiysk, Nizhnevartovsk, Tyumen. In addition, AZAL operates flights on the route St. Petersburg - Ganja.