March 22, 2024 - Air Samarkand has successfully completed its first scheduled flight, operating a return service on the Samarkand-Istanbul-Samarkand route yesterday (Thursday) with its Airbus A321neo aircraft.
Operating on the traditional holiday of Navruz, the day of the vernal equinox to mark the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the new service departed with a full cabin of 221 passengers and returned from Istanbul with 188 customers.
Zafar Butayev, newly appointed CEO of Air Samarkand, said: "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 Turkey and Uzbekistan by operating a first, and importantly full scheduled flight to Istanbul. We are already experiencing huge demand for services, as demonstrated by those travelling 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.”
Air Samarkand will initially operate the new five-hour flight twice a week, departing on Mondays and Thursdays from Samarkand International Airport (SKD) to Istanbul International Airport (IST).
The carrier also confirmed plans to open further route destinations, including services linking with the cities of Tbilisi, Dubai, Jeddah and a number of other destinations in Turkey.
Ahead of its first departure from SKD on Thursday the airline unveiled its new ambassador, Sevaru Nazarzkhan, a multi-award-winning Uzbek singer and composer. She signed autographs and when on board wished travellers a happy journey before performing part of her song ‘Ulugimsan Vatanim’ via the aircraft speakerphone system.
Tickets for regular flights are available on the website easybooking.uz, as well as agencies connected to the EasyBooking system and on the website biletbank.com. In the near future, tickets will also go on sale on the updated website airsamarkand.com, as well as in popular online ticket offices and aggregators.