ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 8. Kazakh low-cost carrier FlyArystan has thrown its hat in the ring with the announcement of international flights on the Almaty-Samarkand-Almaty route, set to take off in the spring and autumn seasons of 2026, Trend reports via the company.
Flights will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The spring schedule will run from March 21 to May 30, and the autumn schedule will be from September 1 to October 24.
FlyArystan is a budget airline launched in May 2019. It operates under its parent company, Air Astana. Based in Almaty, FlyArystan operates a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft.
Meanwhile, Qazaq Air launched regular direct flights on the Almaty-Samarkand route on November 7, 2025. In December 2025, SCAT Airlines also began operating regular flights connecting Kazakhstan's Turkestan with Uzbekistan's Bukhara, Urgench, and Samarkand.
The Kazakh government announced in November 2025 that efforts to strengthen tourism and transport links between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been intensified. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has developed a new concept for a shared route along the Central Asian Silk Road. This route includes key cities such as Almaty, Shymkent, Turkestan, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva.
In 2026, the government said, there are plans to explore joint promotion of the tourism potential of both countries, with the aim of combining their tourist resources to attract more visitors.
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