Samarkand is the second fastest growing airport since Covid in Europe and Central Asia

Samarkand International Airport (SKD) is the second fastest growing airport in Europe and Central Asia in the last five years and has just recorded its 22nd consecutive monthly increase in passenger numbers.

New data released by the European airport industry organisation ACI Europe, show that SKD has grown passenger volumes by 191.6%% since the equivalent pre-Covid pandemic figures of 2019. This represents the second largest growth of any airport measured by ACI Europe, which represents over 500 airports in 55 countries. This was way ahead of the 9% average growth recorded between 2019-2024 across its airports in European / Central Asia, according to ACI Europe, whose airports stretch across Europe plus Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

SKD has also revealed that July was its 22nd consecutive month of growth since October 2022, as volumes grew to 121,157 for the month, from 80,539 in 2023. This came after a record 647,085 passengers passed through the airport in the first six months of the year, up by 47% on the 2023 figure, with an additional 207,421 passengers using the new airport facility that acts as a gateway to Uzbekistan’s ancient and fast-growing city in the heart of the famous Silk Road. Average growth across the wider European region was just 5.8% in H1 when compared to 2023, says ACI Europe.

Dmitry Martynenko, Commercial Director of Air Marakanda, says: “We have now achieved 22 consecutive months of passenger growth, driven by demand for domestic and international travel from Samarkand and the surrounding area, and by overseas carriers increasing the number of visitors to our incredible ancient city of Samarkand. Air Marakanda will continue to grow the route network and passenger numbers at Samarkand International Airport over the summer and for the remainder of 2024, as airlines increase capacity and open new city connections with Samarkand.”

Martynenko explained: “The Government’s positive open-skies policies, our historic city of Samarkand and our state-of-the-art airport and other tourism facilities, continue to drive passenger growth at Samarkand International Airport. There is much more to come, as overseas visitors recognise the potential of Samarkand. This is a city that now mixes ancient architecture recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage List, with key modern investments including the Silk Road Samarkand tourist centre and other 21st century infrastructure. We are at the beginning of work to attract more visitors to Samarkand, our surrounding region and the wider Uzbekistan, as tourism helps to build new revenue growth in our economy.”

Samarkand airport management company Air Marakanda has driven a doubling of passenger numbers in each of the past two years, with more than one million passengers using the new, state-of-the-art airport terminal for a first time in 2023. The total of 1,010,938 passengers beat the 2022 record, of 517,521, by 104.9% and this growth shows no sign of slowing.

According to data from ACI Europe, SKD is second-only, in terms of growth, to the Albanian capital of Tirana among medium-size airports since 2019. It increased passenger volumes by 239.3%, while in contrast Babimost in western Poland led the small airport section by growing 176.4%. Istanbul recorded an 18.1% increase to lead the ‘Majors’ airport section, Athens was the fastest growing ‘Mega’ airport with 24.5% more passengers and Sochi, up by 90.8%, was the quickest growing ‘Large’ airport.

Samarkand International Airport is classed in the ‘Medium’ size category – for airports with between one-10 million annual passenger numbers – and is now ranked among the top 10 regional airport leaders in the Central Asian region by the World Airport Awards (SKYTRAX) international airport rating.

Passenger volumes at SKD are set to grow following the launch of Air Samarkand, the first carrier to base itself at the airport. Alongside an extensive charter flight programme, Air Samarkand commenced scheduled services to Istanbul in March, and last week began twice-weekly return services to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to support religious pilgrims heading to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Air Samarkand is also operating services to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and Nha Trang in Vietnam using Airbus A321neo and A330-300 aircraft.

The airport recently welcomed Chinese low-cost carrier Loong Air, which began operating flights from Samarkand airport to Xi’an (China).

Further international passenger traffic growth has been driven from the cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Istanbul, Moscow and St. Petersburg, which together delivered 612,963 passengers, equivalent to an increase of 56% over 2023.

Since the beginning of 2024, Samarkand International Airport’s route network has expanded to 24 domestic and international routes. Of these, Turkistan, Tyumen, Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Xi’an were other new destinations to be added.