Samarkand Airport passenger number hits 1.13 million

Samarkand International Airport in Uzbekistan saw a 41% surge in passenger numbers in the first 10 months of the year, marking a new milestone as the autumn/winter season kicks off. This figure has already exceeded the full-year total for a record 2023.

The airport served more than 1.13 million passengers up until October 26, including more than 844,000 passengers in the spring-summer period — a rise of 37% when compared to the same period last year.

The airport already announced it had exceeded one million passengers in the first nine months of 2024, an increase of 308,000 customers or 43% over the corresponding total of 2023, when it passed the one million passenger mark for the first time.

The latest figures cement Samarkand’s position as the second fastest-growing airport in Europe and Central Asia, according to figures from the European airport industry organisation ACI Europe, which represents over 500 airports in 55 countries in Europe and Central Asia.

The increase is being driven by further developments in the route network served from Samarkand International Airport.

Already in 2024 significant expansion has seen Chinese airline Loong Air open direct flights between Samarkand and Xi'an, Utair launch direct flights to Tyumen, Uzbekistan Airways launch to the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Irkutsk, and the regional carrier Silk Avia begin new domestic services to Fergana.

Ural Airlines began operating flights to Moscow, while Uzbek air carrier Qanot Sharq resumed flights to Tel Aviv, and the largest airline in Asia in terms of fleet — China Southern Airlines — to Urumqi in northwestern China.

New home-based carrier Air Samarkand has also been fast developing its flight programme, including services to the Turkish capital of Istanbul, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, the Vietnamese coastal resort of Nha Trang and a twice weekly domestic return shuttle to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

The expansions include new international city destinations from Samarkand International Airport to Xi'an, Turkestan, Tyumen, Nizhny Novgorod and Irkutsk that opened for a first time in 2024.

Samarkand Airport’s ground handling and management company Air Marakanda has implemented a number of measures to further improve passenger comfort, including new temperature-controlled climate systems within the passenger terminal.

A new luggage storage service has been opened for all passengers, while for the convenience of departing passengers, a free counter checking baggage weights has been installed.