More than 200 passengers, who bought tickets for the Tashkent-Istanbul flight from a local travel company, arrived at the airport and found out that such a flight has not been scheduled yet. The tour operator reported a delay in paperwork. A few hours later, a spare plane was called in for the flight.
On November 3, a video of a protest at the Tashkent International Airport named after Islam Karimov was released. Allegedly, the protest was caused by the fact that tickets for the Tashkent-Istanbul flight were sold, but the flight was not arranged.
According to Uzbekistan Airports JSC, on November 3, about 200 passengers arrived at the airport to fly en route Tashkent-Istanbul, but the flight was not scheduled. All passengers reported that tickets for the unscheduled flight were sold by Asia Luxe Travel.
Airport officials contacted representatives of the travel company and the airline, where they demanded to inform passengers about the cancellation of flights and take measures to sort out the issue.
It was stated that the travel company organized the sale of air tickets without the consent of UzAirways and sold about 200 tickets for the flight.
Water was distributed to the disgruntled passengers and transportation was arranged to send them to the hotel. However, due to the refusal of the passengers, the Ministry of Transport allocated a spare aircraft for them and started the registration of passengers for the flight.
Uzbekistan Airways said 227 passengers were registered for the flight.
According to Asia Luxe Travel, the Tashkent-Istanbul flight was delayed due to difficulties in obtaining permitting documents.
The tour operator announced a free transfer of drinking water, lunch and hotel accommodation for passengers.
