Six new international airlines to enter Uzbek market as aviation sector grows

The document states that next year will mark the launch of projects to build new international airports in these three cities.

In addition, the authorities intend to boost domestic air traffic by at least 1.5 times and bring in at least six international airlines to foster a competitive market for air transport services.

In May 2024, Minister of Transport Ilhom Mahkamov presented to the president the design for a new international airport in Bukhara district. The $226 million project will be implemented under a public–private partnership. Uzbekistan Airports previously forecast that the new Bukhara airport would be completed by the end of 2026.

In April, Urgench International Airport was transferred to the management of South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corporation, which won the tender. The total cost of this public–private partnership project is estimated at $222 million. The private partner will invest $115 million in upgrading the airport and will operate it until 2047.

On 1 August, the president approved the start of construction of a new international airport for Tashkent. In its first phase, the facility will be able to handle up to 20 million passengers annually, accommodate 169 aircraft at once, and provide more than 40 take-offs and landings per hour. Uzbekistan Airports chairman Javlonbek Umarhodjaev pledged that the new airport would be fully digitized and built using “the most advanced technologies.”