A lot of important and interesting events occurred in the Azerbaijani transport sector in 2014. Around $ 2.5 billion was invested in the transport sector of Azerbaijan from various sources in 2014. This is a huge amount for such a small country.
Great attention, as in previous years, was paid to the development of the road transport infrastructure of the country. It is clear that it is impossible to effectively develop the economy without a modern transport system. Most of these investments, namely $ 1.9 billion were spent for the construction and reconstruction of major highways, rural and urban roads, bridges, interchanges, etc. in 2014.
The Baku - New York direct flight was initiated for the first time in 2014. This is the first direct flight from the South Caucasus region to North America. This confirms the status of "Azerbaijan Airlines" as a regional leader in the field of air passenger transport.
AZAL also received the first "Boeing 787 Dreamliner" and became the first airline in the CIS, using this revolutionary type of aircraft. Azerbaijani "Silk Way Airlines" has received two new cargo Boeing 747-8 aircraft.
The commissioning of a new air-terminal complex of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, meeting the highest international standards of civil aviation, should be stressed.
Two regional airports in Azerbaijan - Lankaran and Zaqatala gained an international status.
Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company CJSC summed up the results of 2014. The main event is that the company returned to the transportation in the Black Sea after a long break. Cabotage in the Black Sea is carried out by the "Uzeir Hajibeyli" and "Natavan" ships. Among the events of 2014 are the beginning of the construction of three passenger ships in the Baku Shipyard, as well as the inclusion of the "Muslim Magomayev" and "Lankaran" ships into the fleet. Moreover, a ferry terminal opened in 2014 as part of the first phase of a new complex of the Baku International Sea Trade Port.
The railroad workers also made their contribution. Throughout the year, various sections and the relevant infrastructure were constructed throughout the year as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project which is important for Azerbaijan and the entire region of the South Caucasus.
Azerbaijan Railways and Swiss company Stadler signed a contract on purchase and sale of 30 new passenger rail cars that meet European standards.
The cars will be supplied to the republic before the new Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is commissioned in 2015.
Alstom international company will supply 50 KZ8A electric freight locomotives for the Azerbaijan Railways. The total value of the supply contract is about 300 million euros.
A decision was made in 2014 to build a carriage works in the city of Ganja. The Swiss Stadler company will deal with the design. The company was preparing for launching the construction in 2014. It dealt with the supply of equipment for the new plant and the estimated capacity of the new enterprise.
The Nakhchivan and Ganja automobile plants produced 1,861 cars in 2014, which is 4.4 times more than in 2013, 284 trucks, which is 15.4 percent more than in 2013 and 1,265 tractors which is 71.2 percent more than in 2013.
The Nakhchivan Automobile Plant and Chinese Lifan company have signed a new contract that will enable the Azerbaijani side to sell the products to the third countries and in particular Georgia and Central Asian countries.
The decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan was also made in 2014. The Euro-4 ecological standard has been applied towards the cars imported and manufactured in Azerbaijan since April 1, 2014. This standard is used to reduce the vehicle emissions of harmful substances in the atmosphere and improve the environmental situation in the country.
Much attention in 2014 was paid to the development of public transport in Baku, the reconstruction of the city bus system, the improvement of the road network of the capital and the main junctions, as well as the development of the Baku Metro.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport has started working out a state program to resolve traffic problems in Baku, which will cover 2014-2018. The state program envisages the reconstruction of existing and construction of new roads, road junctions, bridges and pedestrian crossings.
According to the state program, the territory of Baku is divided into three areas of parking. The location and number of parking spaces were determined. Moreover, the ministry is preparing a national program for the traffic regulation. It envisages the construction of 71 parking spaces.
Caspian Mobility Group joint venture and the Baku Metro signed a contract for the construction of a "green" branch (conventionally called U15), starting from the "28 May" station. The joint venture was established together with the French Bouygues company. The contract is worth 450 million AZN. The length of the "green" branch will be 3.5 kilometers.
The Baku Metro and the French Bouygues Travaux Publics signed a contract for design and construction work at the "28 May" station as part of the project of developing the Baku Metro and its dividing by "red" and "green" lines. The total project cost is 147 million euros. The contract envisages the creation of two branches which will enable the construction of new tunnels.
Alstom international company signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Baku Metro. It concerns the development of modern subway cars for new lines and for the gradual replacement of the existing fleet.
Finally, two major international exhibitions - "TransCaspian" and "Road and Traffic" were held in Baku in 2014. Around 104 companies from 16 countries attended them. TransCaspian is an important transport forum in the Caucasus. It contributes to the development of transport infrastructure in Azerbaijan. It demonstrates the potential of attracting transit cargo through Azerbaijan, finding the best transportation options for cargo owners. The exposition represented such sectors as offshore and onshore transportation, ports and port equipment, information systems, navigation and monitoring systems, commercial transport. The exhibition helped meet with suppliers of multimodal services within the Silk Road, consider the most advantageous ways of transportation of goods among the ports of Baku, Aktau and Turkmenbashi and review the production of railway manufacturers. The number of participating companies in the transportation sector also increased in 2014.
The fourth Caspian International Exhibition Road and Traffic in 2014 showed a broad panorama of the road infrastructure presented by the companies from Azerbaijan, Germany, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and other countries.
The Azerbaijani transport sector transported 222 million tons of cargo in 2014 or by 1.9 percent more than in the same period of 2013, according to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee's report.
According to a report, the volume of non-oil cargo increased by 3.4 percent, reaching 159 million tons in 2014.
Around 76.4 percent of the total volume of goods transported in 2014 fell to the private sector.
Some 58 percent of all cargo were transported by vehicles, 27.7 percent - by pipelines, 9.8 percent - by railway and 4.5 percent - by ships.
Some 1.8 billion people used passenger transport in 2014 which is 4.7 percent more than in the same period of 2013. Most of the passengers were transported by vehicles (88 percent) and metro (11.8 percent).
Automobile transport takes the lion share in the transport field of the country. Some 128.6 million tons of cargo were transported by vehicles, which is 2.7 percent more than in 2013.
The volume of passenger transportation hit 1.6 billion people (a 4.8 percent growth compared to 2013). Some 96.23percent of the passengers were transported by buses and 3.7percent - by cars.
Freight turnover by vehicles increased by 2.8 percent during the reporting period, while passenger turnover - by 5.1percent.
Some 21.8 million tons of cargo were transported by railway in 2014 compared to 23.2 million tons in 2013.
The number of loaded carriages made up 592 on average per day and unloaded - 608. Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction is 22,000 tons, in western direction 6,800 tons and southern direction - 5,400 tons.
Around 9.9 million tons of cargo were transported by ships during this period compared to 11.5 million tons in 2013. All cargo accounted for international operations. The volume of goods handled in Azerbaijani ports amounted to 12 million tons in 2014.
Some 56.1 percent of cargo shipping fell to oil and oil products, while 43.9 percent on dry cargo. The volume of international transit cargo handled in the ports hit 86.9 percent. As of Jan. 1, 2015, around 167,800 tons of cargo left in the ports for import.
Some 45.8 million tons of oil (a 5.1 percent increase) were transported via main oil pipelines in 2014. During this period, 75 percent or 34.6 million tons of oil were transported via the BTC (data provided by the State Statistics Committee). Sangachal terminal transported 5.6 million tons of Turkmen oil via BTC in 2014.
Gas transportation via main gas pipelines made up 21.9 billion cubic meters (a 9.4 percent growth) in 2014. Some 29.9 percent of the transported gas fell to the South Caucasus Pipeline. Some 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas were transported via this pipeline.
Some 1.8 million passengers were transported by air transport in 2014 which is 7.6 percent more than in 2013. Some 0.4 percent of shipment by this kind of transport fell to private sector.
Some 215.5 million people were transported by metro (a 4.3 percent growth) compared to 2013.
Some 53.1 million tons of cargo were transported through the Eurasian transport corridor TRACECA (Europe-Caucasus-Asia) through the territory of Azerbaijan in January-November 2014 compared to 54.1 million tons in January-November 2013, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee said.
Around 49.7 percent of the total volume of transported cargo fell to vehicles, 34.4 percent - railway and 15.9 percent - ships.
Some 278 million people were transported through the corridor in January-November, which is 7.7 percent more than in the same period of 2013.
Around 59 million tons of cargo were transported through the Azerbaijani segment of the corridor in 2013, which is 3.8 percent more than in 2012. Around 285.2 million people were transported as part of the corridor in 2013 or by 9.3 percent more than in 2012.