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In the first half of 2024, Uzbekistan's airports processed 53,300 flights of which 16, 300 were domestic and 36,900 international; an increase of 37% compared to the same period last year, according to a report by Uzbekistan Airports' press service. From January to June, Uzbek airports served 6 million 369,384 thousand passengers on domestic flights, 1 million 263,304 thousand passengers on domestic flights, and 5 million 106,80 thousand passengers on international flights; an increase of 36% compared to the first quarter of 2023. In the first half of the year, 40.7 tons of cargo and mail were transported, 18% more than last year. Today, Uzbek airports provide passenger services on 84 routes. The 15% increase is attributed to the addition of new air carriers and the simultaneous launch of several new routes. Uzbekistan Airports currently cooperates with 45 airlines.
CMA CGM Air Cargo, a French cargo airline, plans to deliver cargo from China to Europe via Uzbekistan. The carrier intends to use Navoi Airport as a transit point. Representatives of Uzbekistan Airports, Uzaviation, and Uzaeronavigatsia Center recently met with the French CMA CGM Air Cargo delegation, headed by General Director Damien Mazauder, in Tashkent. The airline will carry out five flights a week on Airbus A330 aircraft, and Navoi Airport will become a transit point for technical landings, refueling, and crew changes. CMA CGM Air Cargo is headquartered in Paris; it was established in 2021 as an air division of the CMA CGM transportation group.
Following its year-long reconstruction, Talas airport in north-west Kyrgyzstan reopened on 21 May. Built in 1979 to receive planes and helicopters, the airport had not been operational since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The facility now has a runway that adheres to international standards and a terminal which can accommodate 100 passengers per hour. Speaking at the launch, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov stated that the reconstruction in Talas marked a significant step in progressing the government’s plans to resume air communication with the country’s regions through the revival of several redundant airports. Construction of terminals is currently underway at international airports in the city of Karakol and the village of Tamchy in the Issyk-Kul region. The runway at the Naryn regional airport is under repair and the reconstruction of the runways at airports in Kazarman, Kerben, and Batken in the south, are nearing completion.
Cases of citizens of Turkmenistan flying abroad being prevented from boarding the plane just before departure are becoming more frequent. This is according to a report by Azatlyk Radiosy, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's affiliate in Turkmenistan. Those who managed to leave say that they were interviewed by officials at the airport, and forced to pledge not to talk about the problems inside Turkmenistan, but rather to praise the country. According to the publication, Turkmen citizens have faced various difficulties when traveling abroad for several years. It now takes as long as two years to receive a biometric passport, which is only issued inside the country. Obtaining a foreign visa and purchasing tickets also involves unnecessary bureaucratic hassle. Among Turkmen citizens having difficulties leaving their home country are many who had been forced to return home when their passports expired -- and are now planning to leave again. "According to government instructions, security officers don't let such citizens out of the country. Border guards create various problems for citizens at the airport, do not let them on the plane and force them to return," said someone who themselves had been prevented from leaving Turkmenistan. Citizens are not being reimbursed for all of the associated costs of their planned -- and then canceled -- trips abroad. Noted Radio Azatlyk in its report: "Cases of passengers leaving Turkmenistan, including migrant workers and citizens going to study abroad, being taken off flights have happened before. Representatives of the migration service have never officially commented on the situation. But the bans were reported anonymously at various times by sources in the migration service. In 2018, young women were banned from leaving the country, and then all citizens under the age of 40 were removed from flights en masse. When introducing and removing such bans, instructions are given verbally."
A new airport is being planned in Uzbekistan's Tashkent region, which will be financed by Chinese investors. The planned airport will be the first in Central Asia built entirely with private financing and owned by private individuals. Last week at the Uzbek-Chinese business forum in Shenzhen, delegations from Uzbekistan and China signed numerous business and investment contracts. Among them, the contract to build an airfield in the Ahangaran district in the Tashkent region attracted special interest. The project is expected to use capital sourced solely from an unnamed Chinese investor company. Construction is expected to start in the second half of this year. In addition to the airport, seven more projects, worth $56m, are being planned with Chinese investors for the Akkurgan district, including facilities for producing knitwear, fabrics, synthetic mattresses, footwear, and building materials.
