Jérôme Gabory, vice president for sales in Europe at ATR - Avions de Transport Régional, has visited Uzbekistan with a delegation from the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer to present ATR products at the Ministry of Transport in Tashkent. In particular, the ATR72-600 was introduced in detail highlighting its technical specifications and fuel efficiency, the ministry reported in a statement on July 25.

The talks concluded with an agreement in which ATR would send a detailed proposal to the ministry, including the details and costs of training crews and technical personnel, plus the supply of spare parts and maintenance.

In mid-July, state-owned flag carrier Uzbekistan Airways (HY, Tashkent International) said it was planning to reduce its fleet complexity, in an effort to cut costs and raise profitability, while adding more leased aircraft. It said in a statement at the time that it aimed to cut the number of types it operates from five now (ten A320ceo, two A320neo, five B757-200s, seven B767-300(ER)s, six B787-8s) to just "two or three".

In late June, Ilkhom Makhkamov, Uzbekistan's first deputy minister of transport, told the Podrobno news agency that the national carrier would lease an unspecified number of CRJ/Embraer regional jets in an effort to bolster its domestic network operations.