A number of important events occurred in the country's transport sector in January 2015:
- Boeing and Azerbaijan-based Silk Way West today announced an order for three 747-8 Freighter airplanes valued at more than $1.1 billion at current list prices.
- Turkey offered Azerbaijan to establish a joint venture (JV) to organize and improve maritime transport on the Caspian Sea, Minister of Transport, Shipping and Communications of Turkey Elvan Lutfi said. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India show interest for this project. The minister expressed confidence that the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) will lead to an increase and intensification in maritime traffic on the Caspian Sea. "This issue (cooperation in the field of systematization of traffic on the Caspian Sea) is subject to negotiations with Azerbaijan, and we are ready to create a joint venture in which we can act as a shareholder," said Elvan.
- The joint project of Azerbaijani Transport Ministry and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the reconstruction and creation of a high-speed railway between Baku and Sumgayit is being prepared. The experts have already become familiar with the current infrastructure.
The project envisages the reconstruction of nearly 50 kilometers of the railroad bed, renewal and modernization of the power supply system and signaling system. It is also planned to purchase 10 passenger cars within the project.
The passenger transportation increased by more than four percent in Azerbaijan in January 2015.
The Azerbaijani transport sector transported 17.2 million tons of cargo in January 2015 or by 4.2 percent more than in the same period of 2014, according to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee's report.
According to a report, the volume of non-oil cargo increased by 2.9 percent, reaching 11.8 million tons in January.
Around 74 percent of the total volume of goods transported in January fell to the private sector. Some 52.9 percent of all cargo were transported by vehicles, 32.4 percent - by pipelines, 10.1 percent - by railway and 4.6 percent - by ships.
Some 137.6 million people used passenger transport in January, which is 4.1 percent more than in the same period of 2014. Most of the passengers were transported by vehicles (86.5 percent) and metro (13.3 percent).
Automobile transport takes the lion share in the transport field of the country. Some 9.1 million tons of cargo were transported by vehicles, which is 2.7 percent more than in January 2014.
The volume of passenger transportation hit 119 million people (a 3.8 percent growth compared to the same period of 2014). Some 96.6 percent of the passengers were transported by buses and 3.4 percent - by cars.
Freight turnover by vehicles increased by 2.7 percent during the reporting period, while passenger turnover - by 3.9 percent.
Some 1.7 million tons of cargo were transported by railway in January compared to 1.4 million tons in the same period of 2014.
The number of loaded carriages made up 486, in average per day and unloaded - 530. Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction is 20,300 tons and in western direction 5,300 tons and southern direction - 2,700 tons.
Around 0.8 million tons of cargo were transported by ships in January compared to 0.9 million tons in January 2014. All cargo accounted for international operations. The volume of goods handled in Azerbaijani ports amounted to 1 million tons in January.
Some 65.7 percent of cargo shipping fell to oil and oil products, while 34.3 percent on dry cargo. The volume of international transit cargo handled in the ports hit 94.5 percent. As of Feb. 1, 2015, around 6,500 tons of import cargo left in the ports for transportation.
Some 3.9 million tons of oil were transported via main oil pipelines in January. During this period, 78.9 percent or 3.1 million tons of oil were transported via the BTC (data provided by the State Statistics Committee).
Gas transportation via main gas pipelines made up 2.3 billion cubic meters in January. Some 27.3 percent of the transported gas fell to the South Caucasus Pipeline. Some 636.8 million cubic meters of gas were transported via this pipeline.
Some 128,700 passengers were transported by air transport in January which is 3 percent more than in the same period of 2014. Some 0.2 percent of shipment by this kind of transport fell to private sector.
Some 18.3 million people were transported by metro (a 5.6 percent growth) compared to January 2014.
Some 58.2 million tons of cargo were transported through the Eurasian transport corridor TRACECA (Europe-Caucasus-Asia) through the territory of Azerbaijan in 2014 compared to 59 million tons in 2013, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee said.
Around 49.8 percent of the total volume of transported cargo fell to vehicles, 34.2 percent - railway and 16 percent - ships.
Some 307.3 million people were transported through the corridor in 2014, which is 7.8 percent more than in the same period of 2013.