A local airline will launch in Samarkand

Created on 23.12.2022 15:24

In Samarkand, the largest tourist center of Uzbekistan, the first local air carrier will soon launch. The presentation of the new private airline Air Samarkand took place on December 14 at the Asia Connect Conference: Airline Network Development in New Reality.

Air Samarkand flights will begin in the spring of 2023 after receiving an air operator certificate. At the first stage, the airline plans to operate two narrow-body Airbus A320  in a mono-configuration for 180 economy class seats on 14 international routes; flight duration - from 2 to 4.5 hours.  Air Samarkand will be able to offer residents of the city and neighboring regions with a potential passenger flow of 4.5 million people to travel directly to different countries, and foreign tourists can get to Samarkand without a transfer.

Almost half of the routes will go to Russia. These are Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara and Sochi. Air Samarkand noted that these destinations will be in demand due to the departure of Russian airlines from them due to problems with the double registration of the fleet. Another important region for the airline will be the Middle East, where it will fly to Antalya, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul and Tel Aviv. Delhi will be another destination.

Air Samarkand will operate on a hybrid air travel model. During the year, the company expects to receive six more A320s, but they will already have a saloon and a business class. Next, two wide-body Airbus A330s are expected to arrive.

Air Samarkand will be the first domestic carrier for Samarkand, the third largest city in Uzbekistan and its main tourist center. Representatives of the airline confirmed that private shareholders of the local airport operator, Air Marakanda, were involved in its creation. Now, the national airline Uzbekistan Airways (to Tashkent, Moscow and St. Petersburg) and the private Qanot Sharq (to Tashkent) based in the capital fly from local carriers from Samarkand.

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