Uzbekistan Airways is offering special airfares up to October for outbound agents in Malaysia and Indonesia in a bid to fill seats on its underutilised Kuala Lumpur-Tashkent sector.
Sherzod Akmalov, general manager for Malaysia, Uzbekistan Airways, said: “The airline’s load on the Tashkent-Kuala Lumpur sector is high with tourists from Uzbekistan and CIS countries visiting Malaysia, but outbound load of Malaysians and Indonesians travelling to Tashkent from Kuala Lumpur is low.
Bukhara, Uzbekistan
“The special airfares offered are aimed at correcting the imbalance as well as creating interest among holidaymakers and those on Muslim pilgrimage,” he added. Uzbekistan Airways recently deployed its Dreamliner on this route on March 31, replacing the Boeing 767 aircraft.
The airline’s efforts will support Uzbekistan’s goal of doubling arrivals from Malaysia, up from 3,000 last year, said Anvar Sharapov, chairman of the State Committee of Uzbekistan for Development of Tourism.
He added that the country wants to attract more Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims to travel for Hajj and Umrah via Uzbekistan, with a stop of several days to visit the historical attractions in the country.
Sharapov last week led a delegation of six tour operators to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta to conduct product presentations for the Malaysian and Indonesian trade and media.
Ulugbek Yunusov, counselor on Trade and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Kuala Lumpur, said e-visa facilities offered to Malaysians are flexible, with different pricing based on length of stay. It costs US$55 for seven days, US$65 for 15 days and US$75 for 30 days.
