TJK 116: The Phantom Flight

Once Uzbekistan was off the table, we planned to get from Baku to Dushanbe by connecting through Istanbul. Alas, once we arrived in Baku, we discovered that all of the flights to Istanbul were sold out until the next week. Time for Plan B.

It seemed simple enough: Tajik Air had a weekly flight from Sharjah to Dushanbe (Sharjah being the emirate next to Dubai). We could easily get a flight from Baku to Dubai, and while the travel agent said she was unable to book us on the Sharjah-Dushanbe flight, she could see in the booking system that the plane still had plenty of seats available. See, she couldn't book us on the flight because Tajik Air basically has a monopoly on the Tajik aviation industry, and thus flights can only be booked through their office. But no big deal - we would just hop the flight to Dubai, and then head over to Tajik Air's office in Sharjah the next day.

Except Tajik Air has no office in Sharjah. We did have a number for their ticket counter at the Sharjah airport. So we woke up early the next morning and began calling. And calling and calling. But there was no answer. We double-checked the number on the Tajik Air web site, and found that they listed three different numbers for their Sharjah airport desk, depending on whether you were looking at the site in Russian or English. So after trying all of these numbers to no avail, we tried calling the Moscow office number. But while dialing at the Baku post office we discovered the number listed on the website was missing a digit.

We tracked down the correct Moscow number via another web site jointly run by the Turkish tourism office and Tajik Air. We called from our hotel in Dubai, and the phone was answered by a friendly and (almost) helpful lady. "We can't make reservations for Sharjah," she said. "You'll have to call them." "But there's no answer at the office." "Have you tried calling Dushanbe?" "No, the number isn't on the Tajik Air web site." "OK, I'll give it to you," and read off some digits. Then, she added: "Here's the mobile number of the representative in Sharjah." "Thank you."

Fly the friendly skies



First I dialed the Sharjah mobile number. It was busy. So I dialed Dushanbe. A woman answered. "I'd like to reserve two seats on the Sharjah-Dushanbe flight," I said. The connection was terrible; I could barely make out the reply. "I can't make a reservation." "Can you connect me to someone who can?" "Who do you want to speak to?" "Someone who can make a reservation." "Where are you flying?" "To Dushanbe." "I can't make a reservation." "Can you connect me to someone who can?" Muffled speech. I was put on hold. Then came ringing. Finally a man's voice answered, even more garbled by static than the lady's. "Yes." "I'd like to reserve two seats on the Sharjah-Dushanbe flight." "Who are you?" "Um… a passenger." "Are you an individual traveler?" "Yes." "I can't make reservations for individual travelers." Can you connect me to someone who can?" "No." "Uh… please?" "No." "How do I make a reservation?" "Come to the Dushanbe airport." "I'd like to. I'm in Sharjah. That's why I'm calling, to make a reservation on the Sharjah-Dushanbe flight." "I can't make a reservation for you." "Yes, I remember. Can you tell me how I can?" "Call this number," and he read off another Dushanbe number,then hangs up abruptly. The Dushanbe number he gave was a digit shorter than all the other Dushanbe numbers. We dialed it anyway. "The number you have dialed is incorrect," a recording announced. Big surprise.

Again, we dialed the Sharjah mobile number that Moscow gave me. Still busy.

At this point, we decided that we clearly needed to bypass Tajik Air altogether. I called the Sharjah airport again. "I can't sell you Tajik Air tickets," the receptionist said, and gave me the same number she had given before. "Isn't there a ticket office at the airport?" "There is the Sharjah Airport Travel Agency." "What's their number?" I wrote it down. And called.

"I can't sell you Tajik Air tickets." The Sharjah Airport Travel Agent also knew the line. "How do I get them?" "You have to call their office in Sharjah," he said, and gave me the number from the web site that no one answers. "No answers that." "OK, here are two mobile numbers," and gave me two numbers nothing at all like the mobile number I got from Moscow. "Thank you," I said.
We dialed the first number. Busy. We dialed the second number. "The subscriber you have dialed is out of the coverage range," a recording said. We dialed the first number again. Still busy.

So we decided that our only hope at this point was to show up at the airport on the night of the flight and do our best to scam our way on. When we showed up, we could not find the Tajik Air counter. We asked a guard, who pointed us to an unmarked desk at the back of the departure hall. As we approached, we saw a young man in a T-shirt with gelled hair sitting behind the desk, a mobile phone held up to each ear. The mystery of the busy mobile phones was solved!

Tajik Air: straight outta Kafka



"Do you have tickets?" he asked. "We have reservations," we lied. "Where did you reserve them?" "Online." He rolled his eyes and returned to his simultaneous phone conversations. Then out of nowhere a mustachioed man walked up and asked us what we needed. "We reserved our tickets online a week ago and want to pick them up," we said. "There is no way to reserve tickets online," he laughed. "But we need to get on that flight!" "It's full," he said. "You should have called the reservation office." "We did," we said, whining a bit for effect. "It was busy all week. No one answered." "Did you get the representative's mobile number?" "Yes. Several of them." He stroked his moustache. "Do you have visas?" he asked. "Yes."

He walked to the desk and said something to the gel-haired kid with the phones in Tajik. Then he came back to us and asked how many bags we had. "Just these two," we answered dutifully. He nodded and disappeared for about ten minutes.

When he reappeared, he was holding the arm of one Mr. Ali, the head (i.e. sole employee) of Tajik Air in Sharjah. It turned out that Mr. Ali was in Washington D.C. the previous week, and that was why he wasn't answering the phone. He apologized, then whisked us past the huge line of Tajiks with their carts stacked with electronic goods they had recently purchased in Dubai, slapped a couple of "Tajik Air Priority" stickers on our bags and checked us in.

My take away from the whole situation was that I would like to buy Running an International Airlines for Dummies to Sharipov Valery Salimovich, head of Tajik Air:


According to his bio on the Tajik Air website, "to manage" means "to foresee". So true! So maybe in the future, Valery Salimovich, you might foresee that people might want to make reservations while Mr. Ali is out of town and hire another employee in Sharjah, or at least talk to a temp agency. And maybe double check the numbers listed on your website now and again to make sure they are up to date. Oh yeah - and maybe get a land-line for your Sharjah office. Just some suggestions...