Nearly 50 companies have expressed interest in the project to build and manage the new Bukhara International Airport under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Deputy Minister of Transport Jasurbek Choriyev shared this update today during the ADB annual meetings in Samarkand.
"We have launched a tender in Bukhara, and about 50 companies have already shown interest. While I cannot disclose specific names yet, the first phase is set to conclude around May 11. After that, we will move to the second stage. We’ll conduct a shortlisting process and proceed from there. It is a major project," he said.
On March 11, the Ministry of Transport announced the start of the Request for Qualifications (RfQ) process for the construction and management of the Bukhara International Airport via a PPP model. The project is being spearheaded by the Government of Uzbekistan with the involvement of Uzbekistan Airports, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The new airport complex is slated for construction in Kumsulton area of Bukhara district. It will handle both domestic and international flights and is expected to become one of the region’s primary transportation hubs.
In 2025, the existing Bukhara International Airport had served over 574,000 passengers, with international flights making up the bulk of that traffic.
The project features a planned passenger terminal spanning 48,500 square meters. Its capacity is designed to accommodate 1,200 passengers per hour for international flights and 400 passengers per hour for domestic routes.
The project also includes the construction of a restaurant, parking lots, cargo areas, and a fuel storage complex with a capacity of 8,000 cubic meters.
Under the terms of the agreement, the airfield infrastructure will remain under state management. The private partner will be responsible for the construction and operation of the passenger terminal and its associated facilities.
Project Background
In April 2022, a proposal for the public-private partnership (PPP) project of a new terminal at Bukhara International Airport was presented to president Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The original plan was to select a private partner through a tender by the fall of 2023.
In 2024, President Mirziyoyev addressed the necessity of a new airport in the Bukhara district:
"Bukhara’s current airport is too small. We have worked hard to secure funding and have reached an agreement regarding quality and timelines. Handling only one million passengers a year is simply not enough. Yesterday, we launched the construction of a new $226 million airport in the Bukhara district, which will have triple the capacity of the existing one."
While the new airport was originally slated to open by the end of 2026, it recently emerged that the initial private partner, Enter Engineering, encountered financial difficulties. As a result, plans are now underway to bring new investors onto the project.
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