Flying to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan from the UK: Airports, Stops and Prices

Central Asia is easier to reach from the UK than many people expect, but the cheapest fares usually mean a connection or two. We looked at the fares we track to Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench (for Khiva) in Uzbekistan, and Almaty, Astana and Shymkent in Kazakhstan, from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh, on November 4, 2026.

The lowest fares we found

One-way, cheapest first:

• Shymkent: £107 from London (December 7), with one stop.
• Almaty: £112 from London (December 7). Birmingham £150, Manchester £154, Edinburgh £164.
• Samarkand: £137 from London (January 17).
• Astana: £144 from London (January 15).
• Bukhara: £144 from London (January 17).
• Tashkent: £167 from London (January 1). Birmingham £169, Manchester £190, Edinburgh £208.
• Urgench, for Khiva: £231 from London (January 16).

Two things stand out. Samarkand and Bukhara were both cheaper than Tashkent, so you can often fly straight to the Silk Road cities instead of starting in the capital. And Birmingham was only £2 more than London for Tashkent, so check your nearest airport rather than assuming London is cheapest.

Nonstop flights cost two to four times as much

There are nonstop flights, but they are a different price bracket:

• Tashkent: Uzbekistan Airways from Gatwick, from £332, against £167 with a stop.
• Almaty: Air Astana from Heathrow, from £420, against £112 with stops.

We found no nonstop fares to Samarkand, Bukhara, Urgench, Astana or Shymkent in recent searches. Of the 30 cheapest London to Tashkent fares, 15 had one stop and 15 had two. Urgench takes the longest: 14 of its 30 cheapest fares had three stops, so budget for a long travel day if you go for the lowest price.

January was the cheapest month

For departures from London between November 2026 and January 2027, the typical (median) one-way fare was lowest in January on every route:

• Almaty: £185 in November, £194 in December, £155 in January
• Astana: £172 in November, £193 in December, £161 in January
• Bukhara: £322 in November, £215 in December, £156 in January
• Samarkand: £250 in November, £245 in December, £188 in January
• Shymkent: £173 in November, £185 in December, £151 in January
• Tashkent: £231 in November, £239 in December, £214 in January
• Urgench: £303 in November, £311 in December, £254 in January

Tips for booking

• Compare UK airports. The cheapest airport changed from route to route. Our Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan pages rank them by the latest fares.
• Check the connections. The lowest fares often combine budget airlines with one or two changes. Make sure you understand the layovers, and whether the whole trip is on one booking, before you pay.
• Fly into one city and out of another. Uzbekistan's cities are linked by train, so an open-jaw trip into Samarkand or Bukhara and out of Tashkent can work well. For Khiva, compare the fare to Urgench with flying to Bukhara and continuing overland.
• Check entry rules. Look at the UK government's travel advice for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before you book.

How we measured it

We used the cheapest cached one-way fare for each departure day on each route, from recent searches on our travel partner Aviasales, collected on November 4, 2026. Nonstop prices and the number of stops come from the same searches. Prices change constantly, so treat these as a snapshot rather than a promise, and confirm the final fare before you book.