Vietjet Qazaqstan sees opportunities on smaller regional routes, but rising costs remain a constraint. This was said by Adilbek Umraliyev in an interview with Euronews. He highlighted Bukhara and Samarkand, which he considers to have significant tourism potential.
According to him, rising fuel prices and airport charges are making regional flights more expensive to operate.
The airline already operates on the regional market. In November 2025 it launched direct flights from Astana to Bishkek and Samarkand, and in early 2026 it increased frequencies on both routes. Since 1 October, Astana–Bishkek flights have operated daily: https://www.flycentralasia.com/news/en/kazakhstan-kyrgyzstan-daily-air-link/
The cost theme is not new for Umraliyev. In early September he named three factors: higher fuel prices, airport charges and VAT, and said the airline plans to receive its first four Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in 2027. In October he proposed cutting VAT on domestic air transport from 16% to at least 10%, saying all domestic routes are loss-making. The airline estimates the first-year budget loss at around 15–17 billion tenge. Umraliyev also noted that airports are trying to offset changes in their economics by raising the burden on airlines, while the interests of airports and carriers ultimately coincide: growing passenger traffic spreads the fixed costs of infrastructure over more flights. More here: https://www.flycentralasia.com/news/en/vietjet-qazaqstan-proposes-cutting-vat-domestic-flights/
Airports are handling charges differently. Astana airport halved its fuel-related fees from 1 August: https://www.flycentralasia.com/news/en/astana-airport-jet-fuel-fee-cut-losses/
The framework for regional routes is widening. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agreed to raise the weekly flight cap between Tashkent and both Almaty and Astana to 60, and on other routes from 14 to 20: https://www.flycentralasia.com/news/en/kazakhstan-uzbekistan-aviation-talks-permitted-frequencies-tashkent-routes/
In Bukhara, the president of Uzbekistan ordered a new 300 million US dollar airport to be built by 1 September 2027: https://www.flycentralasia.com/news/en/uzbekistan-bukhara-airport-independence-day-deadline-access-road-bus-lane/
Our assessment: Umraliyev's words are an assessment of the potential of Bukhara and Samarkand, not an announcement of new routes. As long as fuel, airport charges and taxes remain the main cost factors, launching regional routes will depend on incentives from airports and on tax policy. For airports in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, tour operators and lessors, this means that the operating conditions of regional routes — airport tariffs, taxes, fuel — influence route decisions as much as demand. This is the view of flycentralasia.