Uzbekistan Air Cargo Notes | 7 May 2026
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Welcome to this week's edition of Uzbekistan Air Cargo Notes, the first and only newsletter focusing on the latest news and insights into the dynamic air cargo market of Uzbekistan and Central Asia. This week, we are reporting on the foreign-backed modernization of Fergana Airport, South Korean operator's agreement to manage and upgrade Urgench Airport, and more.
Air Cargo Trends
Air Astana reports significant growth in international transit traffic
Air Astana increased its international transit passenger traffic by 65% in the first quarter of 2026, driven by a strategic redistribution of capacity away from the Persian Gulf toward expanded European, Southeast Asian and Chinese routes
Despite the surge in transit flights and a 13.2% increase in revenue to $331 million, the airline group experienced a 3.3% decline in overall passenger traffic and reported a widened net loss of $21.1 million due to rising operational and maintenance costs
Uzbekistan to modernize Fergana Airport with foreign partners
Plans for a comprehensive modernization of Fergana Airport, one of the country's largest gateways, were recently presented to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, detailing runway expansions alongside the construction of new passenger and cargo terminals
To double the airport's passenger capacity and upgrade its infrastructure, the project will actively engage experienced foreign operators for the design, construction and long-term management of the new facilities
International consortium is set to construct New Tashkent airport
Uzbekistan plans to begin the first phase of the "New Tashkent" airport in June 2026, allocating $2.5 billion for a new terminal and airfield to be built by an international consortium featuring partners from Saudi Arabia, Japan, and South Korea, alongside Uzbekistan Airports
Initiated because the current capital airport is projected to reach its capacity limit by 2029, the new four-stage infrastructure project is designed to ultimately handle up to 20 million passengers and 129,000 tons of cargo annually
South Korean operator to manage and modernize Urgench Airport
South Korea's Incheon International Airport Corporation will take over the management of Uzbekistan's Urgench Airport for 22 years under a public-private partnership, investing $115 million into the $223 million development project
Over a three-year period, the initiative will fund the construction of a new 40,000-square-meter passenger terminal capable of handling 1,300 passengers per hour, as well as a new 3,300-meter runway and comprehensive upgrades to the facility's navigation and meteorological systems
Other News
New multimodal container route links China and Afghanistan
New 7,400-kilometer multimodal logistics corridor has been launched to transport containerized freight from China to northwestern Afghanistan, transiting through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan with an average delivery time of 30 days
Freight is initially transported by rail via the Khorgos-Altynkol border crossing to a railway logistics center in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, where containers are transferred to trucks for the final leg of the journey to Herat via Turkmenistan
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