| Airline: | Uzbekistan Airways |
| Iata: | HY |
| Icao: | UZB |
| Callsign: | UZBEK |
| Frequent Flyer: | Uz Air Plus |
| Subsidiaries: | Uzbekistan Express |
| Fleet Size: | 33 |
| Destinations: | 58 |
| Parent: | Government of Uzbekistan |
| Headquarters: | Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
JSC Uzbekistan Airways,[1] operating as Uzbekistan Airways (Uzbek: Oʻzbekiston Havo Yoʻllari, Uzbek: Ўзбекистон Ҳаво Йўллари; Russian: Узбекские Авиалинии), is the flag carrier of Uzbekistan, headquartered in Tashkent.[2] From its hub at Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport, the airline serves a number of domestic destinations; the company also flies international services to Asia, Europe and North America.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 1992 authorised the creation of Uzbekistan Airways. The airline was established on 28 January 1992, and took over the operations of the Uzbekistan division of Aeroflot on 31 May 1992. In 1993, Uzbekistan Airways acquired its first two Airbus A310-300s. The two A310s were counted as part of the fleet, along with Russian-built aircraft (25 Antonov An-24/26s, one Ilyushin Il-62, 13 Ilyushin Il-76s, one Ilyushin Il-86, 23 Tupolev Tu-154 and three Yakovlev Yak-40s). By this time, the airline was still the sole operator in the country. Late in 1995, the carrier ordered its first Boeing aircraft: two Boeing 767-300ERs and a single Boeing 757.
Uzbekistan Airways was the launch customer for the Ilyushin Il-114; it took delivery of the first, locally assembled aircraft, in July 1998.[3] In June 1998, the airline took delivery of the last-built Airbus A310 ever (msn. 706, reg. UK-31003).[4] Two more Boeing 757-200s were directly ordered from Boeing in April 1999. Late in 1999, the company took ownership of the first of these two 184-seater Boeing 757-200.
By, the airline had 16,296 employees. At this time, the fleet comprised three Airbus A310-300s, three Antonov An-12s, one Antonov An-24, 18 Antonov An-24Bs, three Antonov An-24RVs, three Boeing 757-200s, two Boeing 767-300ERs, three Avro RJ85s, four Ilyushin Il-114s, two Ilyushin Il-62s, six Ilyushin Il-62Ms, ten Ilyushin Il-76Ts, nine Ilyushin Il-86s, 15 Tupolev Tu-154Bs, two Tupolev Tu-154Ms and 19 Yakovlev Yak-40s. Destinations served at the time included Almaty, Amsterdam, Andizhan, Ashgabat, Athens, Baku, Bangkok, Beijing, Bishkek, Bukhara, Chelyabinsk, Delhi, Dhaka, Ekaterinburg, Fergana, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Jeddah, Karshi, Kazan, Khabarovsk, Kuala Lumpur, London, Mineralnye Vody, Moscow, Namangan, New York, Novosibirsk, Nukus, Omsk, Paris, Riyadh, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Samarkand, Seoul, Sharjah, Simferopol, St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Tel Aviv, Termez, Tyumen, Ufa and Urgench.
Two more Boeing 767-300ERs, equipped with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 powerplants, were ordered in 2001 and scheduled for delivery in 2002.
Uzbekistan Airways carried 2.625 million passengers in 2014, a 1.9% decrease year-on-year (YOY), whereas 4.6% more cargo was handled YOY.
See main article: List of Uzbekistan Airways destinations. Since its formation, Uzbekistan Airways has focused its passenger service on Western Europe and other international locations. Most international flights operate from Tashkent, although international services to other Uzbek cities exist.[5] The carrier is not part of any partnership or airline alliance.
Uzbekistan Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[6] [7]
Uzbekistan Airways has interline agreements with the following airlines:[6]
, the airline operates the following aircraft:[12] [13]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers[14] | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | ||||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 10 | - | 12 | 138 | 150 | One aircraft operating for the Government of Uzbekistan | ||
| Airbus A320neo | 3[15] [16] | 7[17] | 12 | 138 | 150 | |||
| Airbus A321neo | - | 4 | TBA | |||||
| Airbus A321LR | 5[18] | - | 16 | 172 | 188[19] | |||
| Airbus A330-200 | 1 | 1[20] | 18 | 248 | 266 | |||
| Boeing 757-200 | 4 | - | 26 | 158 | 184 | |||
| 22 | 168 | 190 | ||||||
| 7 | - | 15 | 232 | 247 | One aircraft operating for the Government of Uzbekistan | |||
| Boeing 787-8 | 6[21] [22] [23] | 3[24] | 24 | 222 | 246 | |||
| 246 | 270 | |||||||
| Let L-410 Turbolet | 1 | 1 | - | 19 | 19 | Operations from July 2023.[25] [26] [27] | ||
| Uzbekistan Airways Cargo fleet | ||||||||
| Boeing 767-300BCF | 2 | - | ||||||
| Total | 39 | 16 | ||||||
In mid-2007, the carrier ordered six Airbus A320s; by that time the fleet was 55 strong, comprising ten different aircraft models; the Russian-built Yakovlev Yak-40 was among them. Also that year, the airline ordered two Boeing 787-8s.
In late 2008, the company ordered four Boeing 767-300ERs in a million deal, and the A320 order was boosted to ten aircraft. The airline took delivery of its first A320 in ; the type started operations servicing the Tashkent–Baku route. The first of four Boeing 767-300ERs ordered in 2008 was delivered in, coinciding with the carrier's 20th anniversary. Also in 2012, the airline retired the An-24 from active service.[28] It was announced in that the Islamic Development Bank signed a deal for million with the Government of Uzbekistan that will be partly ( million) used to finance the acquisition of two Boeing aircraft, yet the type involved was not disclosed.[29] In, the Airbus A310 was retired from active service.[30]
The carrier ordered the Boeing 767-300ER for the first time in 1995. It decided to convert two of the oldest Boeing 767-300ERs into freighters subsequently. Conversion of the first aircraft was completed in . In late, the second converted aircraft arrived in Tashkent.
Uzbekistan Airways received its first Boeing 787-8 in late August 2016. The Business Class on the 787 features the first fully flat seats of the carrier.[31]
In 2023, the carrier ordered two Let 410UVPs with an option for further two of these aircraft; the first of them were delivered in June 2023.
Uzbekistan Airways previously operated the following aircraft:
According to the Aviation Safety Network, the airline experienced eight accidents and incidents throughout its history, totalling 54 reported fatalities;[32] only those involving fatalities and hull-losses are listed below.
| Date | Location | Aircraft | Tail number | Fatalities | Description of the event | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nukus, Uzbekistan | UK-33058 | Crashed 43km (27miles) away from the city under undisclosed circumstances. | |||||
| Turtkul, Uzbekistan | Yakovlev Yak-40 | UK-87848 | /33 | The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Tashkent–Turtkul passenger service when struck power lines, gear-up, after a second go-around at Turtkul Airport. It belly landed, and slid for some 130m (430feet), before coming to rest close to an embankment. | |||
| Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Yakovlev Yak-40 | UK-87985 | /37 | The airplane was completing a domestic scheduled Termez–Tashkent passenger service as Flight 1154 when it landed more than 250m (820feet) past the runway threshold at Tashkent Airport. The aircraft continued its run, the right wing struck a concrete building, moments later the left wing was lost, and hit a concrete wall that caused the airframe to break up, eventually coming to rest into a ditch and catching fire. | |||
| Aranchi, Uzbekistan | Antonov An-2TP | UK-70152 | /15 | Crashed amid bad weather, on approach to the Aranchi airfield, while operating a military training flight. | |||
| Zarafshan, Uzbekistan | Antonov An-24RV | UK-46658 | Premature retraction of the undercarriage during the takeoff run at Zarafshan Airport. |