Humo Air, a new low-cost airline based in Uzbekistan, expects to receive its first Airbus A320 aircraft in December 2023, a local Telegram news channel has reported.  

The news was announced by the airline’s Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rene Gsponer, while speaking at the Central Asia Aviation Summit 2023 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on November 23, 2023, according to Central Asia+ Aero.  

This first batch of aircraft will reportedly be supplied by an ACMI operator, although Humo Air expects to operate the next summer season with dry leased aircraft.  

Humo Air’s business plan calls for an 18-aircraft fleet by 2025 and will eventually offer a network of 60 destinations.   

This project is one of several startup airlines that have sprung up in Uzbekistan since 2022 when the government of the Central Asian republic ended the monopoly held by national flag carrier, Uzbekistan Airways.  

In the last 12 months four other private airlines have launched in the country, Panorama Airways, Qanot Shark, Centrum Air and Tashkent Air. Prior to that, in 2021, Uzbekistan Airways had started its own low-cost subsidiary, Uzbekistan Airways Express.  

Another Uzbek airline startup, Air Samarkand, is also preparing its imminent launch having received its first aircraft, an Airbus A330-300, on November 2, 2023. This was followed just a few days later by an A320.