Uzbekistan, Utair Plan Expanded Direct Flights

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — During the MITT 2026 International Tourism Exhibition, Sanjar Tadjiyev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Tourism of Uzbekistan, met with the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Utair PJSC to discuss expanding air connectivity between Russian regions and major Uzbek cities, including Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Ferghana.

Currently, Utair operates direct flights from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, Tyumen, and Surgut to these Uzbek destinations. In 2025, over 984,000 Russian tourists visited Uzbekistan, with weekly flights exceeding 500. Both sides emphasized the need to increase air traffic further, considering growing interest from residents of Siberia, the Urals, Northwest, and Far Eastern federal districts.

The meeting concluded with an agreement to establish a joint working group tasked with analyzing current flight networks and developing proposals to expand routes. Relevant ministries and agencies from both countries will participate in this effort.

Expanding the number of destinations and flights is expected to boost tourist inflows, improve accessibility for travelers from remote Russian regions, and strengthen business and cultural ties between the two nations. Both sides expressed confidence that implementing these agreements will allow Uzbekistan to host over one million Russian tourists annually and elevate bilateral aviation cooperation to a new level.