Uzbekistan Getting There & Away

Getting There & Away

Air: The national airline is Uzbekistan Airways (HY) . Since independence the airline has expanded its routes and started to renew some of its fleet. In 1993 it purchased two Airbuses for its international routes. It currently flies from London (four flights a week) Amsterdam Frankfurt/M Beijing Bangkok Delhi Istanbul Tel Aviv Jeddah Karachi Sharjah and Kuala Lumpur. Within the CIS it also flies to Moscow Almaty (Kazakhstan) Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) and Kyiv (Ukraine). Tashkent is also served by a number of other international carriers: Lufthansa (Frankfurt/M and Almaty) Pakistan International Airways (Islamabad) Air India (Delhi) Turkish Airlines (Istanbul) Shinjiang Airways (Urumchi in China) and Arianna (Kabul). Flights to Tajikistan have been suspended since the Tajik civil war at the end of 1992. For further information contact Uzbekistan Airways in Tashkent (tel: (3712) 540 737). HY Travel in London are agents for Uzbekistan Airways (see address section). Approximate flight times From Tashkent to London is 7 hours (direct) to Moscow is 3 hours 30 minutes to Frankfurt/M is 6 hours to Tel Aviv is 4 hours 30 minutes to Istanbul is 3 hours 30 minutes to Delhi is 3 hours 30 minutes to Bangkok is 6 hours 30 minutes and to Beijing is 5 hours 30 minutes. International airport Tashkent International Airport (TAS) is in the south of the town about 6km (4 miles) from the centre. It is served by buses and taxis. Tashkent airport itself is reasonably modern and has various international carriers operating as well as the national Uzbekistan Airways. Though the airport infrastructure is good, the staff are not. Expect pointless bureaucracy and an unhelpful attitude from most of them. Baggage claim and customs procedures can be time consuming - allow two hours. Rail: Tashkent is the nodal point for rail services from Central Asia. Lines lead west to Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) south to Samarkand and on to Dushanbe (Tajikistan) east to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and Almaty (Kazakhstan) and north to Moscow (Russian Federation). From Tashkent along the Saratov-Syr Darya Line the journey to Moscow takes two and a half days. There is also a spur line to the Fergana Valley in the east of the country which leads to Osh in Kyrgyzstan. It is possible to connect to China through Almaty; and to Iran and the Middle East (via Turkmenistan). Foreigners have to pay for rail tickets in hard currency preferably US Dollars but it is still a cheap option by Western standards. Road: Uzbekistan has road connections to all its neighbours. The border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan is closed to all except Uzbek and Afghan nationals. Bus: There are services to all the neighbouring countries although the occasional border closures between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan make this route unreliable. Long-distance buses leave the Tashkent bus station (Tashkent Avtovokshal) near the Hippodrome (as opposed to the Samarkand bus station). Foreigners have to pay for tickets in hard currency. When land borders are open, buses run to all neigbouring countries. It should be noted, however, that in Uzbekistan bus travel is only for the truly adventurous and not for anyone in a hurry. Except for special tours, busses are old, decrepit, crowded, painfully slow and prone to frequent breakdowns. If you do travel any distance on a bus in Uzbekistan, take toilet paper with you and be careful what you eat at stops along the way. Car hire: It is possible to hire cars with drivers for long journeys; they will normally ask to be paid in US Dollars. The best place to look for these are at the long-distance bus and train stations. Approximate travel times From Tashkent to Bishkek is 10 hours to Almaty is 15 hours to Ashgabat is 24 hours and to Khojand is 3 hours 30 minutes.