January 6 2025, Samarkand: Loong Air is increasing the frequency of flights between Xi'an, capital of the western Chinese province of Shaanxi, and Samarkand International Airport, the gateway to the historic city in Uzbekistan.
The introduction of an additional frequency is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 6, increasing services on the route to three times a week. Going forward, services will be operated every Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, with departures from Samarkand leaving at 13:35hrs local time.
The news underpins the record-breaking growth of Samarkand International Airport going into 2025. It reported a 41% increase in passenger numbers in the first 10 months of 2024, easily outstripping the total achieved in the whole of 2023, which was itself a record number!
Samarkand was the second fastest-growing airport in Europe and Central Asia according to figures from the European airport industry organisation ACI Europe, which represents over 500 airports in 55 countries in Europe and Central Asia.
Additional information:
AIR MARAKANDA is a ground handling and management operator of the new terminal of Samarkand International Airport as part of the first public-private partnership project in the aviation industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan. For three years in a row, the new international terminal of Samarkand Airport has been among the top ten regional leaders in the Central Asian region of the international airport rating World Airport Awards (SKYTRAX). According to the results of the first half of 2024, which were published by the European organization ACI Europe, the Samarkand air harbor took second place in the category of medium airports.
