Qanot Sharq (HH, Tashkent International) has been awarded a European Union Third Country Operator (TCO) certificate, permitting the Uzbek carrier to launch services to the bloc.
The LCC, whose permit was granted on November 4, is only the second Uzbek carrier to be allowed to fly into the EU after state-owned Uzbekistan Airways (HY, Tashkent International).
Qanot Sharq currently operates two A320-200s and one A321-200NX (with one more due from Air Lease Corporation shortly) mostly on routes between Uzbekistan and Russia. It also operates domestic services in Uzbekistan and 5x weekly flights from Tashkent International to Jeddah International. It recently said that its growth would be oriented towards South-East Asia and has yet to outline any plans for EU operations.
The LCC did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment regarding its EU plans.
The ch-aviation capacities module shows that the current Uzbekistan-EU network is limited to Uzbekistan Airways' services to Frankfurt International and Riga.
