Uzbekistan’s latest airline takes flight.
- Air Samarkand completes its inaugural flight with a full cabin on March 21, in line with the Western Hemisphere spring solstice.
- The airline plans to increase weekly frequency on the Istanbul route & add new destinations shortly.
- The carrier is recruiting prospective cabin crews, who surprisingly require candidates to hold foreign passports.
Uzbekistan welcomes its latest carrier, Air Samarkand. Based in the city with which it shares its name, the airline completed its first flight utilizing an Airbus A321neo. The historic event took place on March 21, coinciding with the traditional holiday of Navruz. This is the day of the vernal equinox, which marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. According to the airline,the new service departed with an entire cabin of 221 passengers and returned from Istanbul with 188 customers onboard.
Zafar Butayev, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Air Samarkand (C7), had this to say about the landmark occasion,
This is a big day for our airline, our first scheduled service that has been delivered after months of preparation. We are delighted to cement the long-standing business and cultural ties between Turkiye and Uzbekistan by operating a first, and notably full scheduled flight to Istanbul. We are already experiencing huge demand for services, as demonstrated by those traveling on these first services, and plan to increase the weekly frequency of this route, as well as announcing other new routes for Air Samarkand in the near future.
The airline will operate this new route twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays and plans to add additional destinations to its route network, including Tbilisi, Dubai, and Jeddah, as well as other undisclosed destinations throughout Turkiye.
In line with the carrier’s growth ambitions, their website shows they are actively recruiting cabin crew. Interestingly, prospective candidates are expected to hold a foreign passport, and only Uzbek citizens must have proficiency in the local language.
Uzbek aviation is taking off
The central Asian nation now has two full-service airlines calling it home. The flag carrier Uzbekistan Airways is based in Tashkent, the nation’s capital, and now C7 is based in the famous Silk Road city of Samarkand.
Tashkent Airport is also seeing development. Qatar Airways launched direct flights between Doha and the Uzbek capital earlier this year. The news is that C7’s first scheduled flight was a success. That, combined with foreign interest in connecting the country, shows that tourism and air travel are recovering well from the downturn experienced over the past few years.
Source: simpleflying