Aviation - The Times Of Central Asia

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Allied Biofuels

Allied Biofuels Details Export Routes for Planned $6.1 Billion Uzbekistan SAF Project

Allied Biofuels has disclosed planned export routes that would carry sustainable aviation fuel from its proposed facility in Uzbekistan to customers in Europe and the United Arab Emirates via rail and sea corridors crossing Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Suez Canal. The routes are set out in a logistics agreement with Latvia-based Pro Logistic Services that was signed during the 5th Tashkent International Investment Forum in June and announced on July 20. It covers the future transport of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and electro-synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF), rather than immediate exports. The production facility has not yet been built, and Allied Biofuels has said commercial fuel supplies are expected to begin in 2030. Under the agreement, Pro Logistic Services will design and implement a multimodal transport network covering dedicated rail tank cars, port handling, freight forwarding, and marine shipping. The company would coordinate delivery from the project site in Uzbekistan to customers in Europe, the UAE, and other markets. The logistics partnership forms part of Allied Biofuels’ planned $6.08 billion renewable energy and sustainable fuel project in Uzbekistan’s Khorezm region. The development is backed by a project implementation agreement with the regional authorities and has received special economic zone status under a presidential decree. The planned complex would combine biomass processing, refining, green hydrogen, and power-to-liquid technologies. Allied Biofuels says it would produce about 160,400 tonnes of SAF, 257,000 tonnes of e-SAF, and 5,040 tonnes of green diesel annually. A proposed 4.45-gigawatt renewable energy system, supported by battery storage and hydrogen infrastructure, would supply the project. In June, Allied Biofuels signed an engineering agreement with Sinopec Engineering Group covering front-end and detailed design, systems integration, and cost development. The logistics program is expected to proceed alongside engineering, production planning, financing, and negotiations with potential fuel buyers. Uzbekistan Airports and Allied Biofuels also signed a memorandum of understanding in May on future SAF and e-SAF supplies. The May announcement said cooperation would begin in 2030. Allied Biofuels’ latest statement describes the memorandum as binding and says it covers annual purchases of 117,000 tonnes. For shipments to the UAE, fuel would travel by rail from Miskin Station through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. The proposed journey would cross Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea before reaching the Georgian Black Sea ports of Poti or Batumi. The cargo would then be transferred to tankers and shipped through the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Suez Canal to Fujairah and other UAE ports. European exports would use a separate corridor. Fuel would travel by rail from Miskin Station to the Port of Riga in Latvia, before continuing by sea to Hamburg and other European ports. The plan reflects Uzbekistan’s wider effort to improve rail links and secure more reliable access to distant seaports. Pro Logistic Services says it has direct forwarding agreements with the national railway operators of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Turkmenistan, and Lithuania. Headquartered in Riga, the company operates more than 4,000 freight wagons and maintains a presence in...

Civil Aviation

China Launches Beijing-Bishkek Flights as Kyrgyzstan-China Links Grow

Air China, China’s flag carrier, has launched scheduled passenger flights between Beijing and Bishkek, adding another direct link as Kyrgyzstan and China expand economic and transport ties. According to OJSC Airports of Kyrgyzstan, the new Beijing-Bishkek-Beijing service will operate three times a week. Flights are scheduled for Mondays and Fridays, with an additional service on Sundays. Airbus A321 aircraft will operate the route. The airport operator described the launch as a milestone for Kyrgyzstan’s civil aviation sector, saying the arrival of one of Asia’s largest airlines reflects the country’s growing appeal to international carriers and opens new opportunities for travel between Kyrgyzstan and China. The inaugural flight coincided with the 17th meeting of the Kyrgyz-Chinese Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, held in Bishkek on July 17. The meeting was co-chaired by Erlist Akunbekov, Deputy Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers, and Ling Ji, China’s Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative. Discussions covered trade and transport, including logistics. Energy and agriculture were also on the agenda, as were industry and finance. Akunbekov said bilateral economic cooperation had entered a new phase, pointing to several major infrastructure projects. "We have begun implementing large-scale projects such as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. The third border crossing, Bedel, has opened, and construction has begun on the Barskoon-Bedel-Uchturfan-Aksu highway," he said. Construction of the Barskoon-Bedel highway began in August 2025. The road will form part of a future transport corridor linking Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul Region with Aksu Prefecture in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region via the Bedel Pass. Once completed, the route is expected to shorten the distance between Aksu and Kyrgyzstan by around 500 kilometers and reduce freight transit times by at least 12 hours. The new Beijing route comes amid an expansion of air services between the two countries. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Aero Nomad Airlines will launch direct flights between Bishkek and Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, on August 3. The new air services add to expanding road links and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project. Officials expect the additional connections to support trade and tourism while making business travel easier. According to Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Liu Jiangping, bilateral trade reached a record $27.2 billion in 2025, up 20% from the previous year.

EU-Kazakhstan Cooperation

Tokayev’s Brussels Visit Brings Aviation Pact, Visa Progress and $12 Billion Business Package

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev left Brussels with a broader package than the transport announcements that opened his two-day visit on June 22-23. Kazakhstan and the European Union signed an aviation agreement, completed talks at negotiators’ level on easier short-stay visas, backed new road and mineral projects, and endorsed an Air Astana aircraft order worth €7.145 billion. Tokayev also said the business program produced commercial agreements and memoranda worth more than $12 billion. Tokayev met with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on June 23. Their joint statement placed connectivity, energy security and resilient supply chains at the center of the relationship. Von der Leyen called Kazakhstan “a global gateway” and said the EU was ready to turn it into “a pathway for jobs, business opportunities and common prosperity.” Negotiators completed talks on Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements, opening the way for internal approval procedures. The visa agreement would simplify applications for short stays in the EU, though the agreement would not create visa-free travel and has not yet entered into force. The two sides also signed a Horizontal Aviation Agreement after negotiations lasting more than two decades. Once internal procedures are complete, any eligible EU airline will be able to operate between Kazakhstan and 17 member states that already have air service arrangements with Astana. Existing rules generally reserve those rights for airlines owned or controlled by nationals of the country concerned. EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the pact would bring “our people and economies closer together.” A separate agreement covered up to 50 Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft for Air Astana. The joint statement valued the order at €7.145 billion. That transaction formed the largest named item within the more than $12 billion in commercial agreements and memoranda announced during the visit. Tokayev presented the total as evidence of European business confidence in Kazakhstan. Transport and connectivity remained the backbone of the trip. Before the leaders met, Kazakhstan and its European partners unveiled four Middle Corridor agreements worth a combined $462 million. They included airport digitalization work with SITA, an EBRD-backed loan for the 234-kilometer Aktobe-Ulgaisyn road, a KTZ Express project at Romania's Port of Midia, and cooperation with A.P. Moller-Maersk on container traffic across the Trans-Caspian route. The leaders welcomed a European Investment Bank framework agreement of up to €150 million for Kazakh roads along the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor. An EBRD memorandum will support an internationally accredited chemical-analytical laboratory for critical raw materials. Other documents cover intelligent transport systems, the E-Zholdary road platform and a minerals and metals center of excellence. Brussels also encouraged the EIB to open an office in Astana. These projects connect the visit to the EU's effort to build a reliable route between Central Asia and Europe through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye. Tokayev said annual freight volumes had risen from 800,000 tons to 4.1 million tons over six years. Kazakhstan aims to raise the corridor’s capacity to 10 million tons, but ports, railways, border...

Aviation

Turkish Airlines to Fly Daily to Dushanbe

Turkish Airlines will increase flights between Istanbul and Dushanbe from five to seven days a week, according to Turkey’s ambassador in Tajikistan. “Starting on August 3, daily Dushanbe–Istanbul flights will be available, further strengthening connectivity between Turkey and Tajikistan,” Ambassador Umut Acar said on Facebook. The development comes amid signs of domestic growth in commercial aviation in Tajikistan, whose national carrier, Somon Air, said last month that it was expecting the delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in the next few months. In April, Shohin Airlines, a new private airline registered in Tajikistan, said it was in the final stage of acquiring four planes from the Airbus A320neo line of aircraft. In 2025, civil aviation authorities in Tajikistan lifted many market restrictions under a new government policy. The move was aimed at encouraging competition, leading to better prices for passengers, more efficient service, and route diversification.

Direct Flights

Kazakhstan to Launch Direct Flights to Tokyo and New York Within Next 12 Months

Kazakhstan plans to launch direct flights from Astana to Tokyo and New York within the next 12 months, Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev said during a government meeting on Tuesday. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov reminded officials that the Ministry of Transport had previously pledged to open direct air links to Tokyo and New York but had yet to announce concrete results. “In the case of Tokyo, flights will begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, and flights to the United States will begin in the second quarter of 2027,” Sauranbayev said. He added that Astana currently operates 34 international routes. According to the minister, Kazakhstan has already opened four new international routes since the beginning of the year: Almaty-Shanghai, Astana-Yerevan, Atyrau-Tashkent, and Aktau-Yerevan. By the end of 2026, Kazakhstan's aviation authorities plan to open or resume 11 additional international routes, including Astana-Ulaanbaatar, Astana-Guangzhou, Astana-Issyk-Kul, Astana-Larnaca, Astana-Kashgar, Almaty-Tokyo, Almaty-Larnaca, Hanoi-Almaty-Prague, Almaty-Izmir, Almaty-Warsaw, and Kostanay-Tashkent. Meanwhile, Michael Daniel, CEO of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK), said work is ongoing to secure Category 1 status from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, a prerequisite for launching direct flights to the U.S. Daniel said Kazakhstan has been addressing shortcomings identified during an FAA technical assessment conducted in August 2024. “We plan to invite the FAA IASA team to conduct an evaluation in September 2026. The FAA will assess Kazakhstan’s political commitment to complying with international aviation safety standards, including legislation, regulatory oversight, and practical implementation,” he said. “Our primary goal is to obtain FAA Category 1 status in November 2026,” Daniel added. Kazakhstan’s airline fleet is also expected to expand, with six additional aircraft scheduled to enter service by the end of this year. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s civil aviation fleet consisted of 104 aircraft last year, with authorities aiming to increase that number to 216 by 2030. The government is also planning a major modernization of airport infrastructure over the next three years. “In accordance with the president’s instructions, work is underway on the construction of airports in the tourist zones of Katon-Karagay, Zaysan, and Kenderli, as well as the restoration of Arkalyk Airport,” Sauranbayev said. He added that aviation hub development is continuing at six major airports: Almaty, Astana, Aktau, Aktobe, Karaganda, and Shymkent. According to the minister, most airport modernization projects are being financed through private investment. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines, in partnership with Boeing, has begun construction of a major aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul center in Shymkent.

Somon Air

Somon Air Awaits Boeing Delivery as Tajikistan´s Aviation Sector Grows

Tajikistan’s Somon Air expects the delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in the next few months, in a fleet expansion designed to strengthen the airline as a growing player in Central Asia's aviation sector. The national carrier, which aims to offer new intercontinental routes, said its management met a Boeing delegation this month to build on an agreement late last year in which Somon Air selected up to 14 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 737 MAX aircraft. During the May 15 meeting, “the parties discussed key issues related to the introduction into service of the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, whose delivery to Tajikistan is scheduled for July–August 2026,” Dushanbe-based Somon Air said. “The expansion of the fleet with modern aircraft will enable Somon Air to improve the quality of passenger service, expand its route network, and strengthen its position in the regional civil aviation market,” the airline said. Established in 2008, Somon Air currently operates six Boeing 737 Next Generation airplanes on routes to Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It has a total of 25 destinations. Tajikistan’s international routes traditionally focused on Russia, the destination for many migrants from Central Asia. According to Boeing, the new aircraft for Somon Air will deliver a 20–25% fuel-use improvement compared to the airplanes they replace and enable lower seat and maintenance costs. In another sign of commercial aviation growth in Tajikistan, Shohin Airlines, a new private airline registered in the country, said in April that it was in the final stage of acquiring four planes from the Airbus A320neo line of aircraft. Shohin Airlines, which operates helicopters for specialized flights, wants to make a significant expansion into commercial passenger traffic. It had announced a $200 million investment from a European investment fund. In 2025, Tajikistan introduced an Open Skies policy in which civil aviation authorities lifted many market restrictions. The move came two years after a 2023 study in which the World Bank said airport charges in Tajikistan were very high and that refueling costs were among the most expensive in Central Asia. The agency recommended market deregulation as a way to encourage competition, leading to better prices for passengers, more efficient service and route diversification.