Uzbekistan Airways changed its flight routes to European destinations starting from 20 January, bypassing Russian airspace. The company’s chairperson Shukhrat Khudaykulov announced this change during a press conference on Tuesday.

According to Khudaykulov, the decision was based on recent recommendations from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) highlighting safety concerns regarding flights over the European part of Russia. As a result, Uzbekistan Airways now operates its European routes further south, flying through Azerbaijan and Turkey.

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Tashkent-Munich flight on 19 January. The route length is 4849 km. Source: Flightradar24.

europe, russia, uzbekistan airways

Tashkent-Munich flight on 24 January. Length is 5156 km. Source: Flightradar24.

“This naturally increases flight time by 30−40 minutes one way and adds extra costs for the airline,” Khudaykulov stated.

“Second-by-second monitoring”

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Shukhrat Khudaykulov.

Shukhrat Khudaykulov emphasized that the airline’s flight operations center continuously monitored the situation in the airspace.

“We conduct real-time assessments. If a situation is considered unsafe — we have an average of 200 passengers on our flights, and we are responsible for each one — we immediately adjust the route, and air traffic controllers inform the pilots accordingly,” he explained.

The airline’s chairperson said that following the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan, an emergency meeting was formed under the leadership of Uzbekistan’s prime minister. The meeting included representatives from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Transport, Uzaviation agency, Uzbekistan Airways and other relevant agencies. The commission conducted a thorough safety analysis and made decisions to ensure the security of flight routes.

Khudaykulov clarified that air routes are carefully planned and approved well in advance, with decisions made by the country’s aviation authorities rather than the airline alone.

“We pay close attention to this matter. All Uzbekistan Airways flights, regardless of the destination, operate with maximum safety precautions,” he stated.

Currently, unsafe airspaces include Ukraine and the European part of Russia. In Asia, certain mountainous regions also pose risks due to weather conditions.

“For every route, as with all carriers, we have alternative or backup flight paths,” Khudaykulov added.