On February 22, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was briefed on the transformation of state-owned enterprises in the aviation sector.
In recent years, significant opportunities have been created for the private sector in the aviation services market. The number of airlines has reached 15, including 10 private ones. Last year, 28 new aircraft were purchased. As a result, the number of flights has doubled over the past seven years. The transfer of Samarkand Airport to private management quadrupled the number of passengers to one million.
However, air traffic grew by only 11.6% last year. The “Uzbekistan 2030” Strategy aims to increase the number of flights four-fold. In order to achieve this goal, the annual growth rate of the industry must be at least 20%.
This requires systematic work on infrastructure, management, prices and quality. In our country, air ticket prices are relatively high. The number of flights, both domestic and international, is insufficient to meet existing demand. The majority of flights continue to take place at the airports of Tashkent and Samarkand. The airports have limited capacity to provide services to aircraft and passengers, with ancillary services accounting for only 7% of total revenues. The transit potential of Tashkent, Navoiy, and Namangan airports is not fully exploited.
The presentation discussed this year’s plans to accelerate transformation processes in Uzbekistan Airways and Uzbekistan Airports Joint Stock Companies, expand services and increase revenues.
In particular, the process of obtaining an international credit rating for the national airline and its entry into the IPO will be initiated. The airports of Bukhara, Namangan, Urgench and Andijan will be transferred to private management and modernized. The number of flights is planned to increase by 20% this year.
Measures are envisaged to reduce costs in the sector by 20%. Old, fuel-guzzling aircraft will be sold and modern, fuel-efficient aircraft purchased. A significant reduction in fuel consumption will be achieved by optimizing flight routes to 72 destinations. Unused and unprofitable assets will be put up for sale.
The responsible officials were tasked to develop a cost-cutting program, increasing the competitiveness of services and accelerating private partnership projects. The need to expand additional services at airports, develop aircraft maintenance at Navoiy Airport and fully exploit its potential was emphasized.
The issues of attracting qualified foreign specialists to state-owned airlines and improving personnel training were also discussed.