President Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed officials to study the possibility of reopening the airport in Zarafshan, the town in the center of Navoi region, president’s press secretary Sherzod Asadov said.
The town, built in 1960−1965, is known as the gold capital of Uzbekistan for close proximity to Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine, the world’s fourth gold producer.
The head of the state made the announcement during his visit to Navoi region at a meeting on the region’s development perspectives.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that towns of Zarafshan and Uchkuduk, as well as Tamdy district had a combined population of 200,000 people. Currently, to come to Tashkent, people have to travel 250−300 km to Navoi, the region’s administrative center, before continuing their journey to the capital by train or plane.
Built in the 1980s, Zarafshan airport has been out of service for the past decades.
The population of Zarafshan is expected to exceed 100,000 in the next two to three years, it was said at the meeting.
