Uzbekistan Airways

If you catch a Boeing 787 or A321neo of Uzbekistan Airways in Frankfurt or Munich, you have no everyday sighting in your logbook. Uzbekistan Airways visits German airports only a few times a week – and that is exactly what makes it a nice target. This page shows you who is behind the airline, which aircraft it flies and how to recognize and log it cleanly.

Uzbekistan Airways at a glance

Uzbekistan Airways is Uzbekistan’s state-owned airline, headquartered and hubbed in Tashkent. Its roots lie in the end of the Soviet Union: on January 28, 1992, the national airline was founded by presidential decree, and at the end of May 1992 it took over flight operations from the former Uzbek directorate of Aeroflot. Aircraft, staff and infrastructure thus came from the Soviet system – yet the fresh start went quickly.

In its first years the airline already opened international routes, including to London, Delhi, Karachi and Tel Aviv. In 1995 a transatlantic link to New York was added. For a landlocked country in the middle of Central Asia, direct connections to the world were especially valuable – and Tashkent lies conveniently between Europe and Asia, on the old Silk Road.

Today Uzbekistan Airways is a manageable but modern network airline. It does not belong to any alliance. Joining SkyTeam was announced in 2008 but was not carried out. Instead, the airline relies on codeshare and interline agreements with individual partners, including Turkish Airlines. It is also a member of the airline association IATA.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code HY: appears in the flight number, so on the departure board, on the ticket and in the airport’s flight schedule.
• ICAO code UZB: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign UZBEK: this is how the crew checks in on the radio.

The IATA code HY has no recognizable connection to the name – that is often the case with IATA codes, because many combinations were already taken. The ICAO code UZB, on the other hand, is easy to remember. How the two systems relate is explained in the article on IATA and ICAO codes.

The fleet: Dreamliner, 767 and A320 family

Uzbekistan Airways’ fleet has become young. The Soviet types of the early years were retired long ago, and today almost only Airbus and Boeing aircraft fly. According to publicly available fleet overviews, the fleet looked like this in early 2025 – the numbers change constantly with new arrivals, so take them as a guide:

Type	Count (as of early 2025)	Use	Spotter note
Boeing 787-8	7	Long-haul and strong medium-haul routes	Flagship since 2016
Boeing 767-300ER	5	Long-haul, older generation	Gradually being replaced by the 787
Airbus A320	9	Short and medium-haul	First generation with smaller engines
Airbus A320neo	10	Short and medium-haul, also Europe	In the fleet since 2019
Airbus A321LR	5	Longer medium-haul	In service since 2022
Let L-410	4	Domestic service	Small turboprop, hardly seen in Europe
Boeing 767-300BCF	2	Cargo	Converted passenger aircraft
Ilyushin Il-76TD	2	Cargo	Last Soviet type in the fleet

In addition there are two A320s in VIP configuration and one Pilatus PC-24 business aircraft. In total, the fleet thus comprised a good 45 aircraft; depending on the source, individual numbers differ slightly, for example for the 767-300ER.

Boeing 787: the flagship

The Boeing 787-8 is the airline’s pride. The first aircraft was delivered at the end of August 2016 and entered scheduled service in early September 2016. Later the Dreamliner also took over the prestige route to New York JFK.

The fleet keeps growing: in September 2025 the airline ordered 14 Boeing 787-9s, and shortly afterward the order was increased to 22 aircraft through converted options. The longer 787-9 offers more space and range. The manufacturer is Boeing.

A320neo family: the Europe standard

On many Europe routes you will meet the A320neo or the A321LR. Uzbekistan Airways took over its first A320neo in March 2019 and its first A321LR in February 2022. Additional A321neos are also on order. Since first-generation A320s still fly alongside, you should look closely – the differences are explained in the article A320neo or ceo?. The manufacturer is Airbus.

767: the older long-haul jet

The Boeing 767-300ER was the backbone of long-haul before the Dreamliner. Uzbekistan Airways ordered its first 767s in 1995. From 2014 the airline had two older examples converted into freighters – they now fly as 767-300BCFs.

From Ilyushin to Airbus: the fleet history

For aviation fans, the fleet’s history is almost more exciting than today’s. As a former Aeroflot directorate, Uzbekistan Airways started with Soviet equipment. Around the year 2000, several Il-62s and Il-86s still flew for the airline – both types were retired long ago. How this generation came about is shown in the overview of Soviet airliners.

One special case was the Il-114: Uzbekistan Airways was the launch customer of the turboprop and in 1998 received the first example assembled in Tashkent. The Il-114 was retired in 2018.

At the same time, Western technology entered the fleet early. In 1993 the airline took over its first brand-new Airbus A310-300s; according to the common account, the last A310 ever built even went to Uzbekistan Airways in 1998. The type stayed in service until 2013. From the mid-1990s, Boeing 757-200s and 767-300ERs were added. The 757 has meanwhile been retired as well.

A piece of this history has survived in the cargo business: the Il-76TD remains in the fleet. In Western Europe, however, it is an extremely rare sight.

How to recognize Uzbekistan Airways

The livery is simple: a white fuselage with airline titles and a tail whose colors are inspired by the Uzbek national flag. Individual aircraft wear special liveries, such as an A320neo with an anniversary motif. From a distance it can be confused with other airlines with white fuselages – you are safer with the registration and the tracker.

The most important identifying feature is on the fuselage: the registration. Uzbekistan has the nationality mark UK. If you read that and think of Great Britain, you are wrong – British aircraft carry G-. How country prefixes work is explained in the article Understanding aircraft registrations.

For the type, the fleet structure helps you: if you see a widebody with serrated nacelle edges and no winglets, it is the 787. If the widebody has classic engines and a shorter, boxier silhouette, it is a 767. How to tell the Dreamliner from similar types is shown in the article Telling the Boeing 777 and 787 apart.

The route network: Tashkent as a hub

Almost all international flights run via Tashkent (TAS). From there Uzbekistan Airways connects the country’s major cities – including Samarkand, Bukhara, Urgench and Fergana – with the world. The international network reaches Russia, the neighboring countries of Central Asia, the Middle East, India, China, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

In Europe, besides Frankfurt and Munich, other metropolises such as Paris, London, Milan or Rome belong to the network depending on the schedule period, plus Istanbul. Some destinations are served only seasonally or a few times a week, while others have come and gone in the past. From Frankfurt there was even a rotation via Urgench for a time. So always check the current schedule.

Noteworthy is the Russia traffic: since the start of Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022, Uzbekistan Airways has continued its connections to Russia and keeps flying over Russian airspace, which Western airlines have to avoid.

Spotting Uzbekistan Airways in Germany

In Germany, Uzbekistan Airways flies to Frankfurt and Munich. The traffic is modest, and the flights do not run daily. That is exactly what makes it a highlight: an HY aircraft among the Lufthansa jets is a change of pace you do not get every day. Which types come in which season depends on the schedule – depending on demand it can be an A320neo family aircraft or a Dreamliner.

At Frankfurt Airport you have a good view of the traffic from the Zeppelinheim viewing platform. An overview of all spots is given in the Frankfurt plane spotting guide. At Munich Airport the visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel) is the classic, and more tips are in the Munich plane spotting guide.

The usual rules apply for photos at German airports: photograph only from publicly accessible areas. If you travel to Uzbekistan yourself, find out beforehand about the local rules for photography at airports – an overview is given in the article Countries with strict photography bans at airports.

Maintenance and training

Uzbekistan Airways is more than just a flight operation. The maintenance company Uzbekistan Airways Technics was established in 2002 together with Lufthansa Technik and takes care of the fleet’s maintenance and upkeep. In early October 2026, the airline announced on its website a certificate from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency EASA for Uzbekistan Airways Technics.

For spotters this is indirectly interesting: in Tashkent maintenance and flight operations come together, and the fleet is looked after there before it flies to Europe.

Common mix-ups

• Taking UK for Great Britain – UK is Uzbekistan’s nationality mark, while British aircraft carry G-.
• Confusing Uzbekistan Airways with Air Astana – both fly between Central Asia and Europe, but Air Astana is Kazakh and has the prefix UP.
• Taking every A320 for a neo – besides the A320neo, Uzbekistan Airways also flies first-generation A320s.
• Confusing the 787 and 767 – the 787 has serrated nacelle edges and swept wingtips, the 767 does not.
• Taking Uzbekistan Airways for an alliance airline – the airline is in no alliance, and a SkyTeam membership was never completed.
• Searching the tracker for the HY flight number – it usually shows UZB there.

Conclusion

Uzbekistan Airways is a small but interesting airline: it emerged from an Aeroflot directorate, with a history from the Il-62 to the A310 and a fleet today of modern Boeing 787s and the A320neo family. For spotters in Germany it is a rare visitor in Frankfurt and Munich – if you know the schedule and read the UK registration correctly, you can collect it deliberately. You will find more ideas for special subjects in the article Spotting rare aircraft.