Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Tashkent International Airport (UTTT), also known as Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport, is Uzbekistan's principal international gateway and the main hub of Uzbekistan Airways, lying close to the centre of the capital. For a visiting simulator pilot it offers a busy Category II international environment with parallel long runways, full ILS coverage and a layered ATC structure typical of a major Central Asian hub.
Tashkent International Airport serves as the main international airport of Uzbekistan and the primary hub for Uzbekistan Airways, alongside operations by Centrum Air, FlyOne Asia, My Freighter Airlines, Qanot Sharq and Silk Avia, with Air Samarkand, Ural Airlines and Turkish Airlines using it as a focus city. It sits at the heart of Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, and is of interest to a visiting sim pilot both for its long parallel runway pair with full ILS approaches and for its place as one of the busiest airports in Central Asia and the former Soviet Union.
The airport lies in Uzbekistan, close to the centre of Tashkent, roughly 12 kilometres from the city centre according to Wikipedia, placing it firmly within the capital's terminal airspace. As a major international hub it sits under structured controlled airspace with dedicated approach, tower, ground and delivery services, and pilots should expect to operate within a busy mixed civil and international traffic environment typical of a Category II airport.
Tashkent International Airport has two physical parallel runways. The 08L/26R runway is 12,281 feet (approximately 3,743 metres) long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS. The 08R/26L runway is 12,133 feet (approximately 3,698 metres) long with a hard surface, lit, and also equipped with an ILS on the 08R end. Field elevation is 1,388 feet.
Tashkent operates a full suite of radio services. Tashkent Delivery (Clearance Delivery) is available on 129.4 MHz, Tashkent Ground on 121.7 MHz, and Tashkent Tower on 120.4 MHz. Approach control, Tashkent APP, operates on 125.2 MHz, with a Tashkent Krug (GCA) frequency on 119.4 MHz. The airport ATIS broadcasts on 126.8 MHz. Both main runways are equipped with ILS, supporting precision instrument approaches consistent with the airport's ICAO Category II status.
The airport's history stretches back to the early twentieth century, with the first passenger flight recorded on 12 May 1924 using a Junkers R-13 aircraft on the Tashkent-Pishpek-Almaty route, and the first airlift linking Moscow and Tashkent following on 8 August 1930. Jet services began in 1957 with the Tupolev Tu-104 on the Moscow-Tashkent route, accompanied by major upgrades to radar and communications, including the RSP-4 landing systems and the Romashka radar system. In 1958 Tashkent was granted status as an international airport of Class I, and in 1967 Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft were introduced, extending direct links to Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk, Ukraine, Chelyabinsk, Simferopol and the Baltic states, the Caucasus and the Far East. On 20 September 1972 the supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 made its first flight on the Moscow-Tashkent route, reaching a cruising speed of 2,500 km/h and covering the distance in one hour fifty minutes. Following Uzbekistan's independence, Uzbekistan Airways was established on 28 January 1992 and operated its first international flight from Tashkent to London later that year using an Ilyushin Il-62. The airport served 1,409,900 passengers in 1993, and significant renovations were carried out with the help of Western construction companies during the mid-1990s. In March 1995 Uzbekistan Airways began flights from Tashkent to New York via Riga using Airbus A310 aircraft. The airport was renamed in honour of Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan's first president, on 25 January 2017.
Tashkent remains the busiest airport in Central Asia and the primary hub for Uzbekistan Airways, comprising two terminals separated by the runway system: Terminal 2 for international flights and Terminal 3 for domestic traffic, with the two connected only by transfer outside the airport. Terminal 2 was rebuilt in 2001 with renovations completed in 2018, and Terminal 3 opened in 2011. Since 2021 the international terminal area has expanded by nearly 50 percent, with further reconstruction of the facade, departure hall and waiting areas completed in August 2024, and an expansion of the arrival hall under way from November 2024. In July 2017 Uzbekistan Airways began nonstop Boeing 787 service from Tashkent to New York, reflecting the airport's role as a long-haul international gateway.