This represents a significant 43% increase compared to the same period in 2023, with 308,000 more passengers served. In 2023, the airport handled a total of 1.01 million travelers. The surge in passenger traffic has been largely driven by five key destinations — Moscow, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Abu Dhabi, and Jeddah. These routes alone accounted for 780,000 passengers, an 11% rise from the previous year.

The airport now offers flights to 24 international destinations, having added new routes in 2024 to Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Tyumen, Turkestan, and Xi’an in China. Additionally, domestic flights continue to operate on two routes, which served 49,000 passengers in the first nine months of the year.

Air Marakanda, established in 2020, was the first public-private partnership in Uzbekistan’s aviation sector under a contract with Uzbekistan Airports. The company invested more than $80 million to modernize Samarkand’s airport facilities, including a new terminal that became operational in spring 2022 after the updated aerodrome was completed in December 2021.

In late 2023, Sam Air, affiliated with Air Marakanda, launched its first commercial flight under the Air Samarkand brand, which began regular services between Samarkand and Istanbul in March 2024.