Urgench Airport opens VIP terminal and rail link to Khiva
A South Korean investor will handle further development of the air gateway
A new VIP-terminal for official delegations has opened at Urgench International Airport (UGC), Uzbekistan’s third-largest air gateway located in the western Khorezm Region, the press service of the Central Asian nation’s president reported.
Additionally, an 11-kilometer rail line connecting the airport directly to the nearby historic city of Khiva has been launched. This link cuts travel time from the airport to the major tourism center in half. The new rail line is expected to transport up to 650,000 domestic and foreign tourists annually.
Urgench Airport originally opened in 1960 and was granted international status in 1992. In 2025, the airport served 862,000 passengers. In the first half of 2026, passenger traffic reached 479,000 people—a 24% increase year-over-year.
Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) will lead the airport’s future development. In October 2025, the South Korean company signed a concession agreement to modernize and manage Urgench Airport.
Total investment in expanding and modernizing the facility will reach $264 million, according to the Uzbek presidential press service. In the first phase, scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, construction will wrap up on an apron for 18 aircraft and a new taxiway, alongside passenger terminal improvements.
Over the following three years, the new operator plans to build a new passenger terminal capable of handling roughly 3 million passengers annually. Infrastructure will also be upgraded to accommodate widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A350, enabling direct, non-stop long-haul flights to the Khorezm Region. Once the project is complete, the airport’s overall capacity will rise from 300 to 1,300 passengers per hour.
In June 2026, IIAC also joined an international consortium that signed a public-private partnership agreement to construct and operate the new Tashkent International Airport.
