Samarkand Airport (SKD) Guide 2026: Flights, Arrival, Into the City

Samarkand airport, officially Samarkand International Airport (code SKD), has quietly become the second gateway to Uzbekistan. Since the new terminal opened in March 2022 it has gone from a provincial airfield to an airport handling more than 1.5 million passengers a year, with direct flights from Istanbul, Dubai, Moscow, Baku and Tel Aviv. For many travellers it now makes more sense to land here, a ten-minute drive from the Registan, than in Tashkent.

This guide, written by our Samarkand team and updated in November 2026, covers the terminal, the routes, what happens on arrival, where to get a SIM card and cash, how to reach the city and what a taxi should cost, departure tips and the open-jaw question: fly into Samarkand and out of Tashkent, or the other way round?

The new Samarkand terminal

The terminal that opened on 18 March 2022 replaced a cramped Soviet building with a glass hall designed, according to its architects, in the shape of an open book in honour of Ulugbek, the astronomer king of Samarkand. It covers about 41,000 square metres and can process up to 1,000 passengers an hour, more than three times the old capacity. International and domestic flights use the same building, with separate halls.

Passenger numbers tell the story: 493,000 in 2022, just over one million in 2023, 1.38 million in 2024 and 1.52 million in 2025. A second terminal and a new runway are planned. Inside you will find a duty-free shop, two or three cafes, a business lounge, a mother-and-child room, free Wi-Fi that works most of the time, and a 24-hour information desk. The airport is operated by a private company, Air Marakanda, which also handles the ground services.

It is small enough that nothing is far: from the aircraft door to the kerb takes fifteen to thirty minutes on a normal arrival.

Flights to Samarkand in 2026

International routes as of the 2026 schedules, with the usual caveat that frequencies change by season:

• Istanbul: Turkish Airlines, roughly nine to thirteen flights a week depending on the season, close to daily; this is the main connection from Europe. Air Samarkand and Centrum Air have also flown the route.
• Dubai: flydubai, several times a week, the easiest connection from the Gulf and from UK and Spanish airports via Emirates and flydubai codeshares.
• Moscow and St Petersburg: Aeroflot, Uzbekistan Airways, Pobeda, Utair and others, daily or more.
• Tel Aviv: Air Samarkand on Sundays and Uzbekistan Airways.
• Baku: Azerbaijan Airlines, twice weekly, a good link from the Caucasus.
• Almaty and Turkistan: FlyArystan and Qazaq Air, useful for combining Kazakhstan with Uzbekistan.
• Urumqi and Xi'an: China Southern and Loong Air, weekly.
• Jeddah and Medina: scheduled and seasonal pilgrimage flights.
• Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and other Russian cities: Ural Airlines, Azimuth and S7.

There is no non-stop flight from Western Europe yet; Istanbul is one short connection away from almost every European city. Our flights from Europe article covers the options. Domestically, Uzbekistan Airways, Silk Avia and Centrum Air fly Tashkent to Samarkand several times a day (though the Afrosiyob train is usually the better choice, see below), and there are direct flights to Urgench for Khiva and to Nukus.

Arriving at Samarkand airport: passport control, visas, customs

The arrival sequence is the same as at Tashkent, with shorter queues:

• Passport control: hand over your passport; citizens of the EU, UK, Japan, Korea and some 90 other countries enter visa-free for 30 days, while e-visa holders should have a printed or saved copy ready. The officer may ask for your first hotel's name. Check that you receive an entry stamp.
• Baggage: two carousels; bags usually appear within twenty minutes.
• Customs: walk through the green channel unless you carry more than the cash declaration threshold or restricted items; see our customs rules article. Random bag scans happen.
• Registration: hotels register foreign guests automatically; there is nothing to do at the airport.

If you arrive on a late-evening Istanbul flight, as many Europeans do, the halls are quiet and you can be in your hotel within an hour of landing. Our drivers meet guests in the arrivals hall with a name board at any hour, and everyone on our tours receives a local contact number before departure.

SIM cards, ATMs and money in the arrivals hall

The arrivals hall has desks for the main mobile operators, Beeline, Ucell and Uztelecom, which usually open for international arrivals. A tourist SIM with a few gigabytes of data costs around 40,000 to 60,000 som (about US$3 to 5) and takes ten minutes with your passport; phones brought into the country must be registered within a month, and the operator does this for you. If the desks are closed, buy a SIM at any operator shop in town the next morning, or use an eSIM bought before you fly; our SIM and eSIM guide compares the options.

There are ATMs in the hall that dispense Uzbek som and sometimes dollars, and a bank exchange counter at the official rate. Withdraw a modest amount, 500,000 to 1,000,000 som, for the taxi and the first day; the exchange rate at banks in the city is the same, so there is no reason to change a lot at the airport. Cards are accepted in most Samarkand hotels and restaurants, but the ticket kiosks at the monuments and the bazaars prefer cash.

Samarkand airport to the city: taxi, Yandex Go and bus

The airport is about 6 to 7 km north of the centre, and the drive to the Registan or the Gur-e-Amir area takes fifteen to twenty-five minutes. Your options:

• Yandex Go: install and verify the app before you fly. A ride to the old town typically costs 25,000 to 50,000 som (US$2 to 4) in 2026; the pick-up point is just outside the terminal.
• Airport taxis: the drivers waiting at the kerb ask more, often 80,000 to 120,000 som from foreigners. Agree a price before you get in if you use them; 50,000 to 70,000 som is fair for a direct ride.
• Pre-booked transfer: hotels and tour operators quote around US$10 to 20 for a car with a name board; worth it for a night arrival or a family with luggage.
• City bus: routes 52, 31 and M1 stop in front of the terminal and run roughly 06:00 to 21:00 to the railway station and the central bus station, for a few thousand som. Fine with light luggage in daylight.

Cars may wait on the forecourt for only fifteen minutes before a fee applies, so pick-ups are brisk. If you are heading straight on to Bukhara, the Afrosiyob train leaves from Samarkand railway station, about 20 minutes from the airport by taxi.

Fly into Samarkand or Tashkent? The open-jaw answer

If your airline offers it, landing in Samarkand and flying home from Tashkent (or the reverse) saves most travellers a full day of backtracking. Compare the two classic loops:

• Tashkent in and out: Tashkent, train to Samarkand, train to Bukhara, train or flight to Khiva, flight back to Tashkent, fly home. Ten days with one internal flight.
• Samarkand in, Tashkent out: land in Samarkand, see Samarkand and Shakhrisabz, train to Bukhara, on to Khiva, fly Urgench to Tashkent, see the capital on the last day and fly home. The same ten days, but the Khiva to Tashkent flight is now also your positioning flight, and nothing is seen twice.

An open-jaw ticket via Istanbul or Dubai usually costs only a little more than a plain return, since both Samarkand and Tashkent are served from those hubs. The one case where Tashkent-first still wins is when you want the Afrosiyob train experience on the very first morning, or when you need the capital's embassies or bigger shops. For a Samarkand weekend break from the Gulf or Istanbul, fly into SKD both ways and you can be on the Registan within two hours of touching down.

Departing from Samarkand: timings and tips

Departures are relaxed but a few rules apply. Arrive two and a half hours before an international flight; only passengers are allowed into the terminal, so say goodbye at the door. Check-in closes forty minutes before departure on most airlines. Security is thorough and liquids rules are the usual 100 ml. There is a small duty-free with Uzbek wine, dried fruit and souvenirs, but prices in the Siab bazaar the day before are better. If you bought carpets, suzani or antiques, keep the shop's receipt and any export certificate in your hand luggage in case customs asks. Flights to Istanbul leave in the early morning; book a hotel near the airport or in the north of the city if you want an extra hour of sleep.

Planning your arrival with TourEast

Our Samarkand Weekend and Classic Uzbekistan itineraries can begin at Samarkand airport just as easily as at Tashkent, with a driver in the hall, a gentle first morning and the Registan at the hour the light is best. Tell us your flight and we will design the loop so that no city is seen twice.