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Travel - International
AIR: The domestic airline is Turkmenistan Airlines (T5). There are international connections to London and Birmingham (UK), Istanbul (Turkey), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Delhi (India), Kyiv (Ukraine), Moscow (Russian Federation), Damascus (Syrian Arab Republic) and Karachi (Pakistan). Flights between London and Ashgabat are twice weekly. Ashgabat is also served by Asseman Airlines from Tehran, by Lufthansa from Frankfurt/M and by Turkish Airlines from Istanbul. There are connections within the CIS to Moscow and St Petersburg (Russian Federation), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), and Kyiv (Ukraine). All flight tickets bought by foreigners within Turkmenistan must be paid for in hard currency. The prices tend to be ten times as much as those that locals pay.
Approximate flight times: From London to Ashbagat is 6 hours 30 minutes, from Istanbul is 2 hours 30 minutes, from Abu Dhabi is 2 hours, from Karachi is 4 hours 30 minutes, from Tehran is 1 hour, from Moscow is 3 hours 30 minutes, from Tashkent is 2 hours and from Kyiv is 2 hours.
International airports: Ashgabat Airport (ASB) is approximately 13km (8 miles) northwest of the city centre. A new terminal building has resulted in an increase of capacity. The airport is served by buses and taxis.
Departure tax: Generally US$25. Nationals of CIS countries pay US$15 and nationals of Turkmenistan pay US$5.
SEA: There are ferries to Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk) from Baku (Azerbaijan) and an irregular service to Astrakhan (Russian Federation). It is theoretically possible to travel from Moscow to Turkmenbashi via the Volga River and the Caspian Sea without setting foot on dry land.
RAIL: The Trans-Caspian Railway connects Turkmenistan with the rest of the Central Asian republics and thence to Moscow and the rest of the CIS. The terminus is in Turkmenbashi on the Caspian Sea, from where it runs through Ashgabat before it crosses into Uzbekistan near the city of Chardzhou. Approximate rail times from Turkmenbashi are: to Tashkent 24 hours, to Dushanbe 36 hours and to Moscow three days. A rail link to the Iranian network, enabling train travel from Turkmenistan to Turkey (Istanbul), was completed in 1996.
ROAD: Turkmenistan is connected by road to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and to Mashad and Tehran in Iran. The crossing into Iran is only open to nationals of the CIS and Iran. Bus: Services are available to the capitals of the neighbouring republics, and north across the Kara-Kum desert to Kunya-Urgench with connections to Urgench and Khiva in Uzbekistan. A service also runs between Ashgabat and Mashhad (eastern Iran).
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