Uzbekistan Airways, the flag carrier of the nation, announced that later this month they will be flying directly between Tashkent International Airport and Frankfurt International Airport, as reported by Routes Online.

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Uzbekistan Airways Boeing 787. Photo: Wikimedia

What are Uzbekistan Airways?

Uzbekistan Airways was founded back in 1992 after the country left the dissolving Soviet Union. Essentially, the airline was created from the remains of an Uzbekistan-based subsidy of Russian airline, Aeroflot. The new airline started with a fleet of Russian made aircraft for domestic routes but started their international routes with two A310s.

Their first route was to London from the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent.

The airline would go on to expand its internationally made fleet with Boeing and Airbus aircraft (slowly retiring the Russian built planes, although many remain in the fleet). They have acquired four Boeing 787-8s, with a fifth one being delivered this month.

In 2017, the airline carried a record 3.173 million passengers with 32 aircraft to 58 destinations. As of today, the airline is not part of any airline alliance but they have several code-share agreements, such as with air Baltic and Turkish Airlines.

What is the new route?

The new route will link Uzbekistan Airways' hub airport of Tashkent International with Frankfurt International.

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Frankfurt to Tashkent. Photo: Google Maps

The service will be flown onboard a new Boeing 787-8, the same plane variant that is used for the Perth to London direct Qantas flights. The two aircraft will be replacing two Boeing 767s that previously flew this route.

Here's how the schedule looks at the moment:

  • HY231 - Tashkent 0545 – 0940 Frankfurt
  • HY232 - Frankfurt 0140 – 2055 Tashkent

The flight will take around nine hours.

The route will link up with another Boeing Dreamliner 787-8, which connects their hub with Bejing. This will allow passengers to easily transfer between the two flights. Additionally, the route is rumored to fly Frankfurt-Tashkent-Kabul twice a week. 

According to Trend.az, Uzbekistan Airways plans on becoming a transit airline, linking both Europe and destinations in the Middle East with Asia. They have plans in place to fly directly into Afganistan. Thanks to the country's unique location, it is likely that this would be a very profitable venture for the airline.

What is service like onboard the airline?

Granted, you would be forgiven if you have not actually flown on this airline before and are unaware of their Boeing 787 configuration.

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The configuration of their Boeing 787. Photo: Uzbekistan Airways

They have 24 seats in business class in a 2-2-2 configuration. There's no direct aisle access from every seat, but business passengers do get a lie-flat seat for the duration of the flight.

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Uzbekistan Airways Business Class. Photo: Uzbekistan Airways

Economy seats around 246 passengers in a standard 3-3-3 layout. The aircraft has all the modern conveniences you would expect from a Dreamliner aircraft, with seatback screens and quiet engines.

This new route to one of Europe's busiest airports is a fantastic leg up for the carrier, and will really make them a notable option for trans-continental travel. Perhaps, in time, they will even provide passengers with an alternative to the Middle-Eastern carrier-dominated market.

Will you be flying on the new Frankfurt route? Let us know in the comments!