Under the agreement, announced by Kazakhstan’s Transport Ministry on 5 November, the weekly limit on other bilateral routes would rise from 14 to 20, allowing airlines to schedule more flights.
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to raise the permitted number of weekly flights on each of the Tashkent–Almaty and Tashkent–Astana routes from 42 to 60. The limit on other routes between the countries will rise from 14 to 20 flights a week.
The agreement would raise the number of flights airlines are allowed to operate; it does not announce immediate additional departures. Uzbekistan’s government legal-information portal says actual schedules will depend on airline plans, passenger demand and available airport slots, the allocated times for takeoffs and landings.
The aviation authorities negotiated in Tashkent alongside a China–Central Asia civil aviation cooperation meeting. Saltanat Tompiyeva, chair of Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee, led the Kazakh delegation; Jamoliddin Nazarov, head of Uzbekistan’s Transport Ministry Air Transport Authority, led the Uzbek side. Kazakhstan’s Transport Ministry announced the agreement on 5 November 2026.
Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee said passenger traffic and business and tourism exchanges were growing, increasing demand for air travel. It said implementing the agreement would expand capacity on the most in-demand routes.
Vietjet Qazaqstan CEO Adilbek Umraliyev told Euronews that rising fuel prices and airport charges were making regional flights more expensive. He saw opportunities in smaller destinations, including Bukhara and Samarkand, because of their tourism potential.
At the same meeting, Kazakhstan reached a separate agreement with China to raise permitted weekly flights from 150 to 180 and add Chengdu and Kashgar as authorized destinations. Airlines' schedules will determine how much of the agreed Uzbekistan–Kazakhstan increase in permitted flights is used.
Kazakhstan and China agreed to raise their weekly ceiling from 150 to 180 and plan to add Chengdu and Kashgar to their route network; Uzbekistan and China also agreed to raise their ceiling from 100 to 114.
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The agreement raises the permitted number of regular passenger flights from 100 a week, giving airlines room to add services without guaranteeing that they will do so.
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