Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In the first half of 2024, Air Marakanda, managing the international airport of Samarkand, has recorded significant growth in passenger traffic. The airport served 647,000 passengers, marking a 47% increase compared to the same period of last year.

Since the beginning of the year, the Samarkand International Airport has been actively expanding its route network. During the first half of 2024, flights from Samarkand were operated on 2 domestic and 24 international routes. Among notable events, the commencement of flights by the Chinese airline Loong Air to Xi’an is highlighted. Additionally, airlines such as Ural Airlines, Qazaq Air, Utair, and Uzbekistan Airways have opened new routes to Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Turkistan, Tyumen, Nizhny Novgorod, and Irkutsk respectively. On 21 March 2024, the main carrier Air Samarkand launched regular flights to Istanbul.

The most popular destinations in the first half of the year were flights from Samarkand to Moscow, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, and Dubai. In total, these routes served approximately 613,000 passengers, a 56% increase compared to the previous year.

The dynamic expansion of the route network and significant growth in passenger traffic confirm Air Marakanda’s success in strengthening Samarkand International Airport’s position as a key transportation hub in the region.