Tourism is booming in this developing country, but its airport hasn’t caught up

FlyDubai flight FZ1946 from Tashkent to Dubai, departing at 5.30pm.

It’s all happening when our tour bus pulls into the busy drop-off zone at Terminal 2 of Uzbekistan’s main airport following our luxury train journey through four of the five Stans. Cars are honking their horns and a roadside vendor is selling popcorn to travellers from what looks like a body bag being hauled on a trolley. Thankfully, no human remains are seen.

Apart from the initial departures zone feeling new and somewhat clinical, there’s nothing particularly striking about the design, which comprises floor-to-ceiling reflective glass windows, metallic columns, futuristic tube lighting and escalators that glow neon blue. Randomly, there’s a capsule hotel in the check-in hall behind a small section of seating. The airport has been undergoing renovations to expand from 45,000 to 65,000 square metres to cater to the increase in foreign visitors, which more than tripled to about 10 million in 2024, and is a testament to the heightened interest in this part of the world. A project has been approved to build a new airport that will start by 2028 and have a capacity to handle 20 million passengers. It’s expected to be a major hub in Central Asia, and aims to rival Istanbul and Doha.

Once we enter the building, there’s a mandatory security checkpoint and X-ray machine. The man in charge is losing his mind about the scissors in my mum’s backpack, but after much hysteria, he begins to understand that we’re checking the bag in. Flat escalators then lead up to the check-in hall but no trolleys are allowed. I enjoy a brief moment of comic relief as people wrestle their large cases on the incline. The check-in process is slow, and when it’s our turn at the desk, the FlyDubai staff member is a bit frosty. I wonder if the Kuwaiti national football team checking in behind us receives the same unfriendly reception.

My passport is almost as fed up as I am. It takes about 40 minutes of waiting in line to get through manual immigration, and once your passport is stamped, you’re required to awkwardly push through a plastic door that looks like it’s been designed to swing back and thump you on the backside. My passport is then checked twice more before I reach security. Shoes are off, and I’m completely felt over by a female staff member, despite there being no apparent reason why. There are large bins filled with single-use plastic shoe covers for people who are precious about getting their socks dirty.

There are very limited options when we reach the gates, but the food is decent. Milly Uzbek serves a