Tokyo’s runway into Central Asia

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the two most economically developed Central Asian nations, are ambitiously expanding their commercial aviation infrastructure and fleets to make their airports and airlines more globally renowned. One of the key partners in these countries’ infrastructure transformation is Japan.

Japan has long been a major donor of official development assistance for Central Asian infrastructure projects: JICA (Opens in new window), Japan’s international aid organisation, was actively involved in modernising three local airports in the Uzbek cities of Samarkand, Urgench, and Bukhara, as well as reconstructing the airport in the Kazakh capital of Astana. Commercial aviation, however, is still a relatively new sector for Japanese investment and engagement and could put Japanese and Central Asian business interests on a more equal footing.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has long disrupted air traffic routes (Opens in new window), while more recent conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel led to widespread havoc (Opens in new window) in commercial aviation. Given that Central Asia is located in the vicinity of these global hotspots, reinforcing flight routes with Japan could offer alternative corridors to stabilise and increase aviation options to potentially bypass conflict areas.

The most prominent current example of Japanese cooperation in the Central Asian aviation sector is the construction of a new major airport in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. The selected companies for this project form a consortium (Opens in new window), with Japan’s Sojitz Corporation (Opens in new window) the second-largest partner (30%). Saudi Arabia’s Vision Invest holds the biggest stake (45%), with South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corporation (15%) and Uzbekistan Airports (10%). Sojitz’s investment will reportedly reach around US$1 billion.

According (Opens in new window) to Uzbekistan’s National Statistics Committee, more than 30,000 Japanese tourists visited Uzbekistan in 2025, an increase of over 40% from the previous year. Having a new international airport serving as a regional hub could help attract more Japanese tourists and boost the local economy.

Kazakhstan aims to establish direct flights between Astana and Tokyo by the end of the year. New international routes “must be opened faster and with competitive ticket prices,” declared Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov in recent weeks (Opens in new window). Kazakh airlines carried 15 million passengers in 2025, while the country’s airports served 32 million passengers and handled 173,000 tonnes of cargo, according to statistics by The Astana Times (Opens in new window).

Like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan aims to become a Eurasian hub for commercial aviation, though tourism rates (Opens in new window) from Japan are lower. Increasing these figures means more flights are needed through Astana and Almaty airports. Kazakhstan recently ordered 25 Airbus A320 aircraft (Opens in new window) for its airlines, signalling a focus on expanding flights and attracting new passengers.

Connecting Kazakhstan with Japan would support Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s call for greater person-to-person ties. During the First Central Asia-Japan Dialogue Summit, held in Tokyo in December 2025 (Opens in new window), Tokayev called for expanded tourism and business cooperation between the two countries.

Global tourism-related news agencies have noted a rise in interest in the “historical destinations (Opens in new window)” and lesser-known tourist locations (Opens in new window) that Central Asia offers. Japanese citizens can travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan visa-free, helping to attract tourism (though Kazakh and Uzbek nationals require visas to travel to Japan). More modern airport infrastructure and the aircraft themselves are necessary to handle larger passenger volumes.

Much of the hope surrounding relations with Japan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan remains nascent, even as the rhetoric is positive. While Japan’s investment and engagement across Central Asia pale in comparison to those of China, Russia, Europe, and the United States, Japanese investment in strategic aviation infrastructure projects, including direct flights, in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan offers opportunities for profit and political ties.

As part of the 2025 Japan-Central Asia Summit, a joint statement (Opens in new window) stated that Japan’s goal is to reach around US$19 billion in business projects (Opens in new window) within the next five years. Mining is a priority for Tokyo, given the global great game of access to critical minerals and rare earth elements. There are several Japanese companies present across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – including companies such as INPEX, Marubeni, Sumitomo, and Mitsui (Opens in new window) – that already have a presence in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and improved airport infrastructure could further facilitate their activities in the region.

If the new Tashkent airport project goes well, Japanese companies could also be invited to help with additional regional commercial aviation infrastructure projects, consolidating the countries’ business ties. Future potential projects include modernising Uzbekistan’s Bukhara (Opens in new window) airport; constructing a new passenger terminal (Opens in new window) in Namangan; and participating in building a new airport in Astana (Opens in new window).

The diversification of air options could see Astana’s and Tashkent’s decision to invest heavily in their domestic aviation industries come at an ideal time – for Japan, too.