A low-cost carrier Silk Avia is being established in Uzbekistan to increase domestic flights. The airline’s first three short-haul aircraft will be delivered by the end of this year. The company plans to buy 12 planes and operate 216 weekly flights to 54 destinations within 3 years.
The first three planes of the newly established Silk Avia regional airline in Uzbekistan will be delivered by the end of 2022. The Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov informed about this in an interview with Kun.uz.
“The flights of this company connect not only Tashkent, but also regional centers. As part of the signed document, the program for launching these flights was also approved. 3 airplanes of this airline will be delivered by the end of this year and flights will be launched,” the minister said.
On October 21, a presentation of Silk Avia was held in Samarkand. At the presentation, the livery of the new airline based on satin fabric was shown.
The founder of the company in the form of LLC is Uzbekistan Airports. The press service of the joint-stock company informed Kun.uz that the price of tickets for Silk Avia flights (flights within Uzbekistan) is set to be from 180,000 to 335,000 soums. These are target prices and have not yet been officially confirmed.
Three main tariffs have been developed in the airline:
- “Oson” tariff - ticket price starts from 180,000 soums. Tickets are non-refundable, hand luggage - 5 kg, extra luggage will be charged separately.
- “Oddiy” tariff - ticket price starts from 270,000 soums. Tickets are non-refundable, hand luggage - 5 kg, checked luggage - 10 kg.
- “Omad” tariff - ticket price starts from 335,000 soums. The ticket can be refunded, hand luggage - 5 kg, checked luggage - 15 kg.
- In the first two tariffs, the additional payment for excess cargo is 30,000 soums per 1 kg. It should be noted that these prices are approximate and may change after the airline becomes operational.
The new airline will use turboprop ATR 72-600 aircraft manufactured in France and Italy.
The Chairperson of Uzbekistan Airports Rano Jurayeva said that three planes will be purchased in 2022 and three more in 2023. In this way, the airline will have a total of 11 aircraft that will fully cover the planned 40 routes. After that, international flights to Central Asian cities can be launched.
“To be honest, it is difficult to find aircraft of this type in the aviation market. Because 75% of domestic flights in the whole world are carried out by such planes. They are very expensive, so it is very difficult to find it in the market. So far we have found 3. They were produced in 2019. They almost did not fly, have been standing since the announcement of the pandemic. In 2023-24, we are planning to purchase brand new aircraft from ATR,” the Chairperson of Uzbekistan Airports said in an interview with Kun.uz last month.
On October 27, the presidential decision “On additional measures for the development of domestic air travel in the Republic” was adopted. Silk Avia has been listed as a low-cost airline.
For information, in the last 3 years, Qanot Sharq, Humo Air and My Freighter airlines were also established in Uzbekistan.
