Uzbekistan Airways passenger numbers recover in 2017

For the first time in several years, the carrier has seen an improvement in its traffic (Uzbekistan Airways)

Uzbekistan Airways’ passenger traffic grew 9.4% last year to 2.7 million. Between at least 2014 and 2016, the Uzbek flag carrier saw its passenger numbers consistently decline. In 2016, for example, the figure was down 2.8% year-on-year. A positive trend emerged in Q1 2017, when traffic went up 5.1% against the same period in 2016.

Uzbekistan Airways continued to increase its air cargo volumes, which reached 48,900 tons (up 13.7% year-on-year). The airline’s fleet, including two Boeing 767-300BCF dedicated freighters transported a combined total of 27,400 tons of cargo.

The performance improvements are due, among other things, to the launch of new routes, from Tashkent to Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and from Samarkand to Istanbul, as well as to the resumption of flights to Lahore, Pakistan, and an increase in the frequency of operations to Almaty and Astana (both in Kazakhstan) and from Urgench to St. Petersburg.

Uzbekistan Airways reports working on investment projects as part of state-funded programs: an international terminal (Tashkent 4) and a widebody maintenance hangar for Boeing 787s are being built at Tashkent airport, while its domestic terminal is being renovated.

It was reported in July 2017 that a project to expand the airport, which called for building an international terminal, had been abandoned due to public protests over its location within the city boundary. Instead, a second international airport was planned to be built on the premises of Taskent-Vostochny airfield, which currently serves cargo and experimental aviation. Now the latter plan has been, at best, put on hold.

Uzbekistan Airways passed an IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) In 2017 and continued to deploy the Automated Risk Management System (ARMS).

The carrier’s fleet includes Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 767 widebodies, Boeing 757 and Airbus A320 narrowbodies, and Ilyushin Il-114 regional turboprops.