Uzbekistan To Set Up New Budget Airline

Uzbekistan plans to set up a new low-cost domestic airline this year to be called Humo Air, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov has said. The move confirms the importance the Uzbek government considers the sector to be.  Other than being branded Humo, a mythical bird with links to Persia which is a state symbol of Uzbekistan, no other details of the proposed airline were given. However a Humo Air website has just appeared online.

The announcement, though, comes just one month before a major aviation show in Tashkent.

Aripov was quoted as saying “The new airline Humo Air will appear in Uzbekistan. It is planned that the company will provide regular flights within the country at fares significantly lower than current ones. The President gave us such an instruction and we will fulfill it this year.”

Under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbek officials have striven to open up Uzbekistan to tourists and businesses. This has meant pouring capital into Uzbekistan’s infrastructure, including transport. Roads and railways have been upgraded as well as regional airports a vital link in a country which stretches more than 1,200km from Nukus on the remote western edge, to Ferghana, at the heart of Central Asia.

Uzbekistan Airways has also spent millions updating its fleet of planes for international routes but domestic routes have often been disregarded. Uzbekistan also has a regional model that it can follow –  Air Astana, the Kazakh airline, last year launched FlyArystan, a low-cost domestic airline. FlyArystan now flies some international routes, although its focus remains the domestic market.

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