Uzbekistan Airways is set to launch its Mumbai-Tashkent direct flight. This makes Mumbai the third destination on its route network from India, others being Delhi and Amritsar. The airline will operate thrice-a-week flight from Mumbai which will start towards the end of this month.
Speaking on the occasion in Mumbai, Farhod Arziev, Ambassador to India, Republic of Uzbekistan, said that the new flight from Mumbai to Tashkent clearly indicates that people to people contact between the countries are expanding. “Establishing new connectivity is important for the expansion of tourism,” the Ambassador said. He also said that for Uzbekistan, India is an important partner in tourism. Justifying the new connectivity, Arziev said that the trend is lot of people from India want to travel abroad and “we have to take advantage of this opportunity.” “Our relation with India is very strong which dates back to centuries,” he said.
Speaking exclusively to TravelBiz Monitor, Azimkhon Khodjaev, Head of Marketing and Network Planning, Commercial Department, Uzbekistan Airways, said that Mumbai is one of the most prominent cultural and business centres of India. “That is why it is a very attractive city for us,” he said. Uzbekistan Airways has a variety of aircraft in its fleet. “We have Airbus 320, Boeing 757, Boeing 767 and Boeing 787 Dreamliners. We will start our operation from Mumbai with Airbus 320 but if we see the load factor is satisfactory then we may introduce Boeing 787 Dreamliner. But it solely depends on load factor,” Khodjaev revealed. On selecting Mumbai as their next stop in India, Khodjaev said, “We have carried out an intensive research with the help of Mumbai Airport and realised that there lies a huge potential here in Mumbai.” Uzbekistan Airways is already operating five times a week flight from Delhi and three times a week to Amritsar.
Charu Makin, Director, Delmos Aviation Pvt Ltd, GSA For Uzbekistan Airways in India, while seeking support from the travel trade said, “The idea to connect Mumbai with Tashkent is to increase point to point tourism capacity.”