Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have agreed to widen the permitted number of flights between the two countries. On the Almaty–Tashkent and Astana–Tashkent routes, carriers will be able to operate up to 60 flights a week on each, and on all other routes between the countries the cap rises from 14 to 20 flights a week. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport reported the agreement on 5 November 2026.
The talks took place in Tashkent, on the sidelines of the China–Central Asia (C5+1) working group on civil aviation cooperation. Kazakhstan was represented by Saltanat Tompiyeva, chair of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Transport, and Uzbekistan by Jamoliddin Nazarov, head of the Air Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport. The reports do not give the exact date of the talks. We have not seen a statement from the Uzbek side.
What has changed
On the two main routes the cap rises to 60 flights a week on each. In August 2025 a limit of up to 42 flights a week on each of these routes was announced. By our calculation, the increase is 18 flights, or about 43%. On the other routes the cap rises from 14 to 20 flights a week, an increase of 6, also about 43%.
This is a cap, not a schedule: it sets how many flights carriers may operate, not how many they do.
The Ministry of Transport links the decision to growing passenger traffic between the countries, more business and tourist trips and demand for tickets. According to the ministry, implementation will increase the number of seats on the most in-demand routes and make travel between the largest cities more affordable.
This is not the first increase. In March 2023 the Civil Aviation Committee reported a rise to 36 flights a week on each of the two routes, and in August 2025 to 42.
Not yet announced
The date the new cap takes effect. The form of the agreement: whether a document has been signed or these are preliminary understandings. Whether the cap of 60 applies to each direction (there and back) or in total: the reports word it differently. Which airlines will add flights, when, and on what schedules. Which routes are included in the "other routes" group. Any comment from the Uzbek side.
Our assessment: the third increase of the cap in a little over three years (36, 42, 60 flights a week) suggests the authorities expect demand on the two main routes to keep growing. But a cap does not mean flights: how much of the previous cap was used and what the loads were has not been disclosed. Additional flights will appear only through carriers' decisions and schedules. This is flycentralasia's conclusion, not a statement by the Civil Aviation Committee.
What businesses can do
Airlines flying between the two countries should assess applications for additional frequencies. Tour operators should not build new flights into programmes until schedules are announced. The airports of Almaty, Astana and Tashkent should plan slots and ground handling in advance for possible growth.