Last week, an airplane of Turkmenistan Airlines - “Boeing 777-200LR”, one of the most modern types of aircrafts in the world, made the first flight from the capital of Turkmenistan to the capital of Malaysia. After a 7-hour flight from Ashgabat, the aircraft with the symbol of the “Turkmenhovayollary” State National Service landed at the airport of Kuala Lumpur, where a welcoming ceremony was organized for the Turkmen delegation. Following the festive and colorful arrival ceremony, a presentation was held devoted to the opening of direct air service between the two capitals. The ceremony was attended by Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, Deputy Minister of Transport of Malaysia Datuk Aziz Kaprawi and Tourism Malaysia’s Director of the International Promotion Department Datin Normasila Musa, who spoke of a great interest of these and other agencies of their country in launching direct flights from Ashgabat to Kuala Lumpur, and expressed confidence that it would undoubtedly contribute to new joint projects. The direct air service has become another important step towards enhancing not only the trade-economic and investment interaction, but also the cultural and humanitarian cooperation. The demand for the new flight between the main cities of Turkmenistan and Malaysia confirms the fact that even at the initial stage of its preparation, leading local and foreign tourist companies evinced a keen interest in it. Our country shows an interest in Malaysia’s experience in relevant infrastructure development, and there is a wide field for efficient cooperation in this sphere. In particular, Malaysian partners’ potential may be used in joint construction projects in the “Avaza” National Tourist Zone. For that very reason, representatives of our country’s tourist industry were among the first passengers of the new air service, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur by the airplane “Boeing 777-200LR”, built in the USA against the order of Turkmenistan which had replenished our country’s aircraft fleet last year. The wide-bodied airplane’s cabin is designed for 291 passengers. At first, the flight will be operated once a week and in the future - twice a week. The issue of operating the same flight through Bangkok is also under consideration. With the opening of the direct flight Ashgabat-Kuala Lumpur, the national air carrier of Turkmenistan has expanded its presence in the Asian-Pacific region, in particular in such a strategic direction as East and South-East Asia, where it already operates direct flights to Bangkok, Beijing, and a scheduled cargo flight to Urumchi. Besides, regular flights are made to scores of cities in other corners of our planet: Moscow, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Birmingham, Istanbul, Delhi, Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Minsk, Saint-Petersburg and many other destinations. Formation of the extensive route network is well under way and soon it will include new regional and interregional air routes. Last week, regular air service was also established between the cities of Ashgabat and Riga (Latvia). A 160-seat comfortable liner – “Boeing 737-800” will make flights between the two cities once a week. The opening of this route will not only enable the citizens of Turkmenistan and Latvia to make tourist trips to the resort areas of the two friendly countries, but will also promote the Turkmen-Latvian trade-economic and humanitarian relations. The fact that tickets for the new flight are in high demand among passengers is clear evidence of the need for the new route. Local and foreign travel companies have already evinced a keen interest in it. The flights are likely to be offered twice a week in the future. For convenience of the passengers, flying to Riga, flights operated by the “Turkmenhovayollary” State National Service have connections with flights to Bangkok (Kingdom of Thailand), Dubai (UAE). This will make it possible for the citizens of Latvia to take transit flights to Asian countries. In the future, the air route is planned to be expanded from Riga to Toronto (Canada). The establishment of regular air service Ashgabat-Riga is a logical step towards further advancing the successful cooperation between Turkmenistan and Latvia.