Historically, Central Asia has not had the best flight connections. Usually, a stop in Dubai or Istanbul was essential, however over the past few years new routes with expanding airlines have increased flight routes and in so doing dropped prices. This of course is just our observation, but we pretty much look at flight routes to Central Asia daily as part of our job.
When flying to Central Asia, we can break it down into two regions within Central Asia, region one being Turkmenistan and region 2 being the rest of Central Asia. Why do we do this? Well simple because there are no direct flight connections between Turkmenistan and any other country in Central Asia. So, if you’re trying to get to Uzbekistan and you choose to fly into Ashgabat, well then you’re going to be spending a bit more money getting over the border, not to mention the LOI process you have to jump through.
The other region we lump together because there are quite a few flights between certain regional capitals, so if you can get to one of the “big” hubs then you should be fine to hop to a neighbouring ‘Stan.
Here's how we suggest flying to each region:
Region 1 (Turkmenistan)
From Europe, Australia or Asia we recommend trying to find Turkmenistan Airlines flights. Currently in Europe you can fly direct to Ashgabat on Turkmenistan Airlines from Frankfurt, London (Gatwick) and Milan. These flights are generally cheaper than first flying to Istanbul or Dubai and then transferring. The downside is they don’t have daily flights, but you might find that spending an extra night in Turkmenistan so you can get that direct flight is probably more cost effective, especially if you’re in a twin share.
If you’re coming from Asia, then you have very cheap connections from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing also on Turkmenistan Airlines. This means all you have to do is get yourself to a Southeast Asian hub and then use that as a launching pad to head to Ashgabat. For you Australians, flight tickets are cheap to Southeast Asia. Furthermore, Bangkok and KL are great cities that are great for long layovers if you need to.
If you’re coming from North America, we’d recommend hoping on one of the new cheap low-cost carriers such as Norse Atlantic and then going from London. Sometimes there are cheap flights to Istanbul via another city so this could also still be an option. We’ve managed to snag flights from New York to Istanbul return for $500 with baggage before on British Airways!
Region 2 (The rest of Central Asia – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan)
Now if you’re heading to other parts of Central Asia, you’ll need to fly into two main hubs to get around the region. These are Tashkent, Uzbekistan or Almaty, Kazakhstan. These are the best-connected cities in the region and there are now a couple carriers that can get you there very reasonably.
If you’re coming from North America or Europe look out for the long-haul routes from Uzbekistan Airways and Air Astana. Particularly Uzbekistan Airways, has some extremely reasonable prices for their Tashkent-New York and their Tashkent-London routes. For Europeans you can also find well-priced tickets from European cities to Kazakhstan, or try get yourself to Abu Dhabi and then fly WizzAir to your destination.
If you’re in Asia, Wizz Air is also go if you can get a cheap flight to Abu Dhabi. Alternatively, there are now direct flights with Air Asia from KL to Almaty and also you can fly direct from Bangkok to Tashkent on Uzbekistan Airlines for some very nice prices. For the Aussies reading this, just like with flying to Turkmenistan, get yourself a cheap flight to KL or Bangkok and then go from there.
If you’re in East Asia, then Beijing and Seoul both have some great connections to Central Asia, and also for Mongolia (yes I know that it’s not Central Asia, but kind of is a bit, you get me?).
So, in short, look out for these airlines: Wizz Air, Uzbekistan Airlines, Air Asia, Air Astana, and of course Turkmenistan Airlines for some alternative routes you may not have thought about. They are safe, reliable and more importantly have reasonable prices.
If you are considering coming to Central Asia the best way to see the region is obviously by coming on tour with us. For more information on where and when we are running tours, check out our tours on
our website
, or send us an email to
[email protected]
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