Samarkand Airport (SKD), Uzbekistan's second-largest airport, continues its impressive growth trajectory, reporting a 47% increase in passenger numbers for the first half of 2024. The airport served 647,000 passengers during this period, according to the airport's website.
The airport's management claims this growth is part of a plan to maintain the record pace of development set in 2023. At this time, the airport exceeded the 1 million traveler mark for the first time in its history, achieving over 100% traffic growth and earning a spot among ACI Europe's Top 3 fastest-growing airports in its category.
"Our goal this year is to reach 2 million passengers," said Eduard Pogosov, manager of the aviation commerce department of Air Marakanda. "We aim to become the first airport in Central Asia to grow at a rate of 100% for two consecutive years."
The airport has expanded its connectivity significantly. In the first half of 2024, flights operated on 24 international and two domestic routes, with nine new destinations added compared to 2023. The number of airlines serving the airport also increased by four, bringing the total to 27 carriers.
Notable new routes include China’s Loong Air starting flights to Xi'an and Uzbekistan Airways launching non-stop weekly flights to Nizhny Novgorod. Other new connections include Ural Airlines, Qazaq Air, and Utair with flights to Yekaterinburg, Turkestan, and Tyumen respectively. Additionally, FlyArystan resumed flights to Almaty, and China Southern Airlines restarted its route to Urumqi.
The most popular destinations from Samarkand included Moscow, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, and Dubai, serving approximately 613,000 passengers—a 56% y/y increase. The frequency of flights to major cities has also been boosted: Turkish Airlines now operates up to 10 flights per week to Istanbul, and Russian carriers like Ural Airlines, Utair, and Aeroflot have increased their flights to Moscow.
Despite this growth, the airport faces challenges in meeting its target of doubling passenger traffic again in 2024. The suspension of flights by Uzbekistan's first low-cost carrier, Humo Air, and the challenging start of the new base carrier, Air Samarkand, may impact future growth.
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