Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) has reported passenger growth on its Central Asia routes: roughly 400,000 passengers carried since the start of 2026, up 35% year-on-year.
The carrier operates 48 weekly flights to 10 cities across four countries in the region:
— Kazakhstan: 31 weekly flights to 6 cities — daily to Almaty, Astana and Aktau; four times weekly to Atyrau; three times weekly to Shymkent and Aktobe. — Uzbekistan: daily to Tashkent; twice weekly to Samarkand. — Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: four weekly flights each to Bishkek and Dushanbe.
Baku's role as a transit hub was highlighted separately: since the start of 2026, 58,734 passengers on these routes used Baku connections for onward travel to Europe and other international destinations.
Passengers from Uzbekistan can pay with HUMO and Uzcard cards via azal.az and the mobile app.
For B2B audiences: a 35% rise in transit traffic through Baku is concrete evidence that the Azerbaijani hub is becoming a real alternative for Central Asia–Europe connectivity. Regional tour operators and airlines should consider AZAL not only as a competitor on regional routes but as a potential interline/codeshare partner for reaching European markets.