Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan boost bilateral air services quotas amid 30% traffic surge

The agreement was formally executed by Saltanat Tompieva, Chairwoman of the Civil Aviation Committee of Kazakhstan, and Jamoliddin Nazarov, Head of the Air Transport Department at Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Transport. Image: Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan—Central Asia’s primary aviation markets—have agreed to further expand bilateral air traffic rights to accommodate surging passenger demand.

Under the updated bilateral air services agreement, designated carriers can now operate up to 60 weekly frequencies each on the core Almaty–Tashkent and Astana–Tashkent city pairs. For all secondary regional routes connecting the two nations, weekly frequency caps have been raised from 14 to 20 flights.

The framework was finalized during bilateral negotiations between aviation authorities on the sidelines of the China–Central Asia (C5+1) Civil Aviation Cooperation Working Group Conference in Tashkent.

The extension of equal-parity flight quotas is backed by robust market growth. Data from the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan shows year-to-date cross-border passenger traffic up by more than 30%, with total operational flight frequencies exceeding same-period figures from the previous year by 40%.

Designated carriers on both sides have expanded their network footprints and frequencies throughout the year. Growth has been driven across full-service and low-cost segments, including Kazakh operators Air Astana and FlyArystan, alongside Uzbek carriers Uzbekistan Airways and Centrum Air. Recent network developments include FlyArystan’s launch of the Almaty–Urgench sector in September, as well as Uzbekistan Airways’ planned weekly Nukus–Atyrau service launching November 29.