According to the data, Tashkent airport serves an average of 65 flights per day, regional airports – an average of 2-2.5 flights per day.
Insufficient equipment of airports with modern specialized equipment and low level of maintenance lead to a decrease in the number of flights, which, in turn, leads to higher fares at airports with fewer flights.
Another fact is that domestic airports receive the main income from the activities of airlines.
What does the experience of foreign countries say? Airports receive the main income from services that are provided to air passengers: Duty Free shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, banks, pharmacies, advertising, paid Wi-Fi, connection to mobile services, car rental, slot machines.
As regards the activities of Uzbekistan Airports JSC, one can also say about cases of artificial limitation of the competitive environment.
For example, in September of this year, Qanot Sharq LLC appealed to the Committee with a complaint that Uzbek airports are delaying the signing of a service contract with the company.
During the study, representatives of Uzbekistan Airports explained this situation by the fact that tariffs for resident airlines have not been approved today.
However, the tariffs were approved by the Ministry of Finance in 2012, and for the Uzbekiston Havo Yollari resident airline in 2015. The committee warned the company that the failure to conclude an agreement, as well as the application of different tariff rates, violate the requirements of the Law “On Natural Monopolies” and the Law “On Competition”. A representative of Uzbekistan Airports JSC today assured that this issue will be considered in the coming days and the results will be presented to the Antimonopoly Committee.
The competition development activities of the Ministry of Transport were also considered. And according to representatives of the Senate and the Antimonopoly Committee, the company also has cases that restrict competition.
In accordance with the state program “On the implementation of the Action Strategy in five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2017-2021”, approved by Presidential Decree No. 5953 of March 2, 2020. in the year of science, education and the digital economy, at least 5 civil aviation units must be created.
However, to date, according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 35 dated January 20, 2020, only Humo Air LLC has been created to perform domestic flights. At the same time, its activities are not fully delivered, and it is not a competitor for Uzbekistan Airways JSC
Another case. A representative of the Russian airline in Uzbekistan “IrAero”, operating a flight on the route Tashkent-Krasnoyarsk-Tashkent, applied to the Committee with a question about the allocation of slots to airlines for the winter season. The issue was resolved positively.
Likewise, the Committee considered the disagreements between the Turkish Atlas Global Airlines on the Tashkent-Antalya-Tashkent route and the Egyptian company Nile Air on the Tashkent-Egypt-Tashkent route. As a result, the charter flight between the two countries is open.
In addition, Aviation and Travel Management LLC (FlyDubai representative office in Uzbekistan) and the resident airline SILKJET studied the existing problems and proposals in this area and submitted proposals to the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Speaking about the problems in the industry, namely in relations with consumers, Uzbekistan Airways JSC emphasized the cases of ignoring the problems of people. Since the beginning of the year, the Agency for the Protection of Consumer Rights under the Antimonopoly Committee has received more than 100 complaints regarding the non-refund of money for canceled flights. More than 20 of them have been resolved positively today.
Taking into account all of the above, joint-stock companies were given recommendations to eliminate existing shortcomings in their work that restrict competition and consumer rights.
Press office of the Antimonopoly Committee