BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 6. Uzbekistan Airports
and China's Loong Air are exploring the launch of direct flights
between Xi'an and Fergana as part of broader efforts to expand air
connectivity between the two countries.


This was reflected in the statement by Uzbekistan Airports
following meeting between Uzbekistan Airports officials and a Loong
Air delegation led by Xiao Wei, the airline's general manager for
marketing.


The talks focused on expanding bilateral cooperation, including
increasing frequencies on existing routes, improving passenger
services and developing joint marketing initiatives with duty-free
operators at Uzbek airports.


"The parties agreed to continue jointly developing the project
to launch flights between Xi'an and Fergana, while also cooperating
on increasing frequencies on existing routes to Tashkent and
Samarkand," Uzbekistan Airports said in a statement.


A key topic of the discussions was the commercial viability of
the proposed Xi'an-Fergana route. According to Uzbekistan Airports,
the densely populated Fergana Valley has strong business activity
and growing tourism potential, making it an attractive destination
for international air services.







It was noted that the number of Chinese-invested enterprises
operating in the Fergana Valley has increased in recent years,
alongside a growing number of Chinese nationals traveling to the
region for business and investment projects. These trends are
expected to support sustainable passenger demand for the proposed
route.


The discussions also covered expanding premium passenger
services, including Fast Track processing and airport lounges, as
well as joint promotional campaigns with duty-free retailers.


Loong Air, based in Hangzhou, currently operates nine scheduled
flights per week to Uzbekistan on three routes: Xi'an-Tashkent,
Chengdu-Tashkent and Xi'an-Samarkand. The proposed Fergana service
would further expand the carrier's presence in the Uzbek market and
strengthen air links between western China and one of Uzbekistan's
largest economic regions.