Uzbekistan’s tourism industry is opening a new African market.
On December 26, direct flights on the Tashkent-Mauritius route will start for the first time, also strengthening the Uzbek capital’s potential as a transit hub linking Central Asian and other regional countries with Mauritius, Uzbekistan’s state Tourism Committee said on Monday.
“According to the plan, at the initial stage, a total of four round-trip flights on the Tashkent–Mauritius route will operate on December 26 and in January. Starting from June 2027, regular flights on this route are planned to operate once a week,” said the committee, which didn’t identify an airline.
The FlyCentralAsia platform, which covers aviation in the region, reported that there will be four charter flights on December 26, as well as January 3 and 11, and an additional date in January. It reported that Uzbek tour operator Prestige Travel is organizing the flights on Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft operated by Uzbekistan Airways. The direct flight is expected to take about 8.5 hours, significantly shorter than trips with connections in Dubai or Istanbul, according to FlyCentralAsia.
Uzbekistan’s Tourism Committee said it collaborated with Prestige Travel to host talks among representatives of the tourism industries of both Uzbekistan and Mauritius.
Prestige Travel founder Oybek Akhmedov said the new flights will increase “mutual tourist flows,” according to the tourism committee. Akhmedov said Muslim travelers from the island nation in the Indian Ocean will be able to enjoy Uzbekistan’s cultural and Islamic heritage sites, as well as culinary traditions.
Mauritius, in turn, would offer warm weather, beaches and lush landscapes to Central Asian tourists keen for a break from the harsh winter.
The Mauritius initiative is being launched under Uzbekistan’s “Open Tourist Season” program, which provides subsidies for airlines opening new international routes to Uzbekistan, as well as financial benefits for local tour operators attracting tourists from long-haul international markets.
Uzbekistan is seeking to expand ties with Africa. Uzbekistan Airways and Air Samarkand currently operate direct flights between Tashkent and Sharm el-Sheikh, the popular beach resort in Egypt.
Uzbek diplomats have also held separate meetings with representatives of Ethiopia and South Africa to discuss the simplification of visa procedures, which would make it easier to travel between the Central Asian and African countries, the Dunyo news agency reported in July. Dunyo is the official agency of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
