LIBERALIZATION OF UZBEKISTAN'S CIVIL AVIATION MARKET (“OPEN SKIES”): IMPACT ON ROUTE NETWORK CAPACITY AND CONNECTIVITY
Keywords:
open skies, air transport liberalization, route network, low-cost carrier, Uzbekistan Airways, fifth freedom, Tashkent International Airport, Central Asia aviation, air connectivity, market de-monopolization.Abstract
This paper examines the structural liberalization of Uzbekistan's civil aviation market between 2018 and 2026 and its measurable effect on route network capacity and connectivity. Following Presidential Decree No. UP-5584 (27 November 2018) and the subsequent corporate separation of Uzbekistan Airways from Uzbekistan Airports (October 2019), the sector moved from a single state-owned monopoly toward a multi-carrier, partially Open Skies model. Fifth-freedom traffic rights were introduced progressively at regional international airports from October 2019, expanded substantially from 1 August 2020, and reinforced by Decree No. UP-193 (27 October 2025), which sets a 2030 target of 24 million annual passengers and 200,000 annual flights. The entry of private carriers - Qanot Sharq (relaunched 2021) and Centrum Air (launched January 2023) - alongside continued dominance of Uzbekistan Airways, is analyzed against passenger-traffic and flight-frequency data from Uzbekistan Airports for 2023–2026. Tashkent International Airport's annual traffic grew from 6.8 million passengers (2023) to approximately 10.0 million (2025), a compound increase exceeding regional peers in relative terms. The reform trajectory is benchmarked against Kazakhstan's 15-airport Open Skies regime and Georgia's single-hub (Kutaisi) low-cost-carrier liberalization model. Findings indicate that route network expansion has outpaced formal connectivity metrics available in open sources, a gap the paper identifies as a priority for future indexed analysis.
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