Uzbekistan’s airlines carried record number of passengers in Q1

Photo: Uzbekistan Airports

In January–March 2026, air transport in Uzbekistan carried 2.2 million passengers, according to the National Statistics Committee of this Central Asian country. This marks the best performance since at least 2020, when the country’s airlines transported 0.6 million passengers.

Following a drop to 0.3 million passengers in the first quarter of 2021, air traffic volumes began to grow. Statistical data shows that in January–March 2022, traffic reached 1 million passengers, followed by 1.1 million in the same period of 2023, and 1.7 million people in both 2024 and 2025.

In addition to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the growth in passenger air traffic was driven by the liberalization of Uzbekistan’s aviation industry. Since the early 2020s, private airlines have begun to emerge in the country. Currently, alongside the state-owned flag carrier Uzbekistan Airways and its subsidiary Silk Avia, several private airlines operate in the domestic market’s passenger segment, including Centrum Air, Qanot Sharq, Fly Khiva, and Flyone Asia.