Silk Avia LCC, better known as Silk Avia or Silkavia, is a regional

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

based in

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

with its hub at

Tashkent International Airport Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport () is the main and the busiest international airport in Uzbekistan and the second busiest airport in Central Asia (after Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan) as well as List of the busiest air ...

. The airline was established as a

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

and is a partner of

Uzbekistan Airways Open joint stock company, JSC Uzbekistan Airways, operating as ''Uzbekistan Airways'' (, ; ), is the flag carrier of Uzbekistan, headquartered in Tashkent. From its Airline hub, hub at Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport, the airline s ...

. Silk Avia is owned by Uzbekistan Helicopters. Currently, Silk Avia operates flights to 15 destinations, with plans to expand its network to 40 destinations. Silk Avia has adopted the IATA and ICAO codes of "US" and "USA".

History

Silk Avia was founded on July 6, 2021, under the initiative of Uzbekistan's Ministry of Transport. The goal was to promote domestic tourism and business activities. The airline's establishment was officially announced in November 2021 at the

Dubai Airshow The Dubai Airshow () is a biennial air show held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in cooperation with Dubai Civil Aviation ...

. Silk Avia became the first operator of

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

aircraft in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. Initially, the airline began operations with three aircraft previously operated by

Bangkok Airways Bangkok Airways plc () is a regional airline based in Bangkok, Thailand. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Laos, Maldives, and Singapore. Its main base is Suvarnabhumi Airport in the Thai cap ...

. On March 18, 2023, its first aircraft departed from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and arrived in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

on March 21, 2023, after six stopovers. Following test flights, commercial operations began on April 25, 2023. On November 23, 2022, the airline placed an order for five new ATR aircraft with Avions de Transport Régional GIE. Three aircraft were sourced directly from the manufacturer and two through a

leasing A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

agreement with

Nordic Aviation Capital Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) was the world leader in regional aircraft leasing and expanded into larger narrow body aircraft as well. NAC was headquartered in Ireland, with offices in Singapore, Denmark, Dubai and Toronto. It had over 60 custom ...

. The lease arrangement was announced at the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the ''Groupement des industries frança ...

on June 20, 2023. The first aircraft under this lease agreement was delivered in February 2024. In August 2024, the airline operated its first international flight to the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. In the same month, regular flights from Samarkand to the city of Turkestan in Kazakhstan are planned to begin.

Structural changes

In October 2023, in accordance with the decision of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan regarding additional measures to organize aviation activities effectively, a number of changes were made within the national airline "Uzbekistan Airways" (

). According to the decision: * 100% of Silk Avia's capital was transferred to the charter capital of Uzbekistan Helicopters. * Three ATR 72-600 aircraft purchased by "Uzbekistan Airports" were transferred to the possession of Uzbekistan Helicopters. * Uzbekistan Helicopters was tasked with increasing its fleet of ATR 72-600 aircraft. These changes were made with the goal of developing and improving the efficiency of Uzbekistan's aviation sector.

Fleet

As of December 2024, the Silk Avia fleet consists of the following aircraft types: * ATR 42-600: 2 on order. * ATR 72-600: 5 in service, 3 on order. Three of these aircraft were acquired from

. * Let L-410 Turbolet: 4 in service. These are operated on behalf of

. In total, Silk Avia operates 9 aircraft and has 5 additional units on order.

Livery

The Silk Avia livery takes inspiration from its name, "silk." It features a satin fabric design that extends from the nose to the middle of the fuselage. The colors reflect traditional tones found in Central Asian satin fabric, notably seen in the patterns of a

tubeteika A ''tubeteika'' (, in Northern Tajikistan, / , , , ; rus, тюбете́йка, links=1, tyubeteika, tʲʉbʲɪˈtʲeɪ̯kə, LL-Q8798 (ukr)-Tohaomg-тюбетейка.wav) is a Russian word for many varieties of traditional Central Asian cap ...

(traditional cap). The airline plans to introduce multiple variations of the design in the future.

Destinations

As of October 2024, Silk Avia operates flights to the following destinations:

References

External links

* {{authority control Airlines of Uzbekistan Airlines established in 2021 Government-owned airlines 2021 establishments in Uzbekistan Companies based in Tashkent