Turkmen Government Plane Made a Secret Flight to Germany

An unusual government flight from Turkmenistan was made on June 21 on the route Ashgabat–Frankfurt–Munich. The plane will depart from Frankfurt to Ashgabat on June 23. This is a large Boeing-777 (registration number EZ-A780).

It is not known who will be on the flight: President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, his father Gurbanbuly Berdimuhamedov or someone else from their family. The flight has a TUG code (Turkmenistan Government) and not TUA (Turkmenistan Airlines); in other words, it will not be carrying ordinary passengers. It is also known

Previous flights from Frankfurt to Turkmenistan have carried doctors who are thought to have treated one or more members of the Berdimuhamedov family.

Turkmenistan’s Transport and Communications Agency recently confirmed the regulations on serving elite passengers at airports. According to the document, the president of Turkmenistan and other heads of state are served in the government lounge, while other senior figures, including Berdimuhamedov-Senior as the head of the People’s Council, are served in the VIP lounge. The document also lists the positions that entitle their holders to free use of the business class facilities.

The document does not mention which officials fly on which planes. Turkmen.news sources say that in practice only the Berdimuhamedovs use separate aircraft. Other senior figures take ordinary flights across the country.