New Tashkent Airport Construction Set for June 2026

Construction on the New Tashkent International Airport is scheduled to begin in June 2026, a landmark project for Uzbekistan aviation infrastructure aimed at meeting surging passenger demand. The development, managed by an international Uzbekistan Airports consortium, will replace the capital's existing, capacity-constrained facility and is central to the nation's strategy to become a key Central Asian aviation hub.

The new airport represents a significant upgrade, designed to handle up to 20 million passengers and 129,000 tons of cargo annually in its first phase. This capacity is a direct response to current passenger traffic at the existing Tashkent International Airport (TAS), which has tripled over the past eight years to 9 million passengers, straining its operational limits. According to the Uzbekistan Ministry of Transport, the new facility will support up to 30 take-offs and landings per hour.

Project Scope and Consortium Details

The project will be executed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement, with an estimated Phase 1 investment of $2.5 billion. The international consortium responsible for the development includes Vision Invest of Saudi Arabia (45% stake), Sojitz Corporation of Japan (30%), Incheon International Airport Corporation of South Korea (15%), and the state-owned Uzbekistan Airports (10%).

Deputy Minister of Transport Jasurbek Choriev confirmed the timeline, stating, "We will begin construction of the New Tashkent airport in June... The public-private partnership agreement must be signed by mid-May." The project aligns with a broader national vision articulated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who noted, "Ultimately, our goal is to turn Uzbekistan into a major aviation hub connecting East and West, North and South."

Strategic Rationale and Operational Impact

The decision to build a new airport stems from the physical limitations of the current TAS, which is landlocked within the city and cannot be expanded. The new 1,300-hectare site is located in the Kuyichirchik and Urtachirchik districts outside the city center. Once the new facility is operational, the existing airport is slated for decommissioning.

For stakeholders, the impact is significant. The consortium is committing to a major capital investment without state guarantees on passenger traffic volumes, placing the financial risk on the private partners. For the national carrier, Uzbekistan Airways, the new hub will enable substantial route network expansion, with facilities capable of handling 62 aircraft simultaneously. The transition will require a complete migration of operations, staff, and air traffic control from the old site to the new one by its expected completion in 2029.

Regional Aviation Trends

This development is part of a broader trend in Central Asia, where governments are partnering with foreign investors to overhaul Soviet-era aviation infrastructure. A key historical precedent is the Almaty International Airport Expansion in neighboring Kazakhstan, where TAV Airports invested over $200 million to build a new terminal to capture growing transit traffic. This mirrors Tashkent's strategy of leveraging foreign expertise and capital.

Furthermore, the plan to completely replace a landlocked city-center airport with a new mega-hub follows the model of the Istanbul Airport (IST) replacement. In 2019, Istanbul's Atatürk Airport was closed to commercial traffic upon the opening of the new facility, a pattern Tashkent intends to follow to overcome urban encroachment and capacity ceilings.

Technical Analysis

This project signals a strategic pivot for Uzbekistan, moving beyond incremental upgrades to a complete overhaul of its primary international gateway. The adoption of a PPP model without traffic guarantees indicates a maturing approach to infrastructure financing in the region, shifting risk from the state to private investors who are betting on sustained, long-term growth in Central Asian air travel. The consortium's composition, blending Middle Eastern capital with Japanese trading house logistics and South Korean operational expertise, creates a robust partnership. This development follows the successful precedent set by Istanbul, suggesting that the complete replacement of a constrained urban airport is becoming a viable, if complex, strategy for emerging hubs aiming to compete on a global scale.

What Comes Next

According to the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, the PPP agreement is expected to be signed by mid-May 2026. Following this, the first phase of construction is confirmed to commence in June 2026. The complete transition of operations and the decommissioning of the current Tashkent International Airport are expected by 2029, subject to construction timelines.

Why This Matters

For the aviation industry, the New Tashkent International Airport project is a critical test case for large-scale, privately-funded infrastructure in Central Asia. It represents a significant bet on the region's future as a transit corridor between Europe and Asia. The new hub will create competitive pressure on other regional airports and provide airlines with a modern, high-capacity alternative for developing new routes.