Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have agreed to increase the number of permitted weekly flights between Almaty and Tashkent to 60, according to Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee.

The agreement was reached during negotiations between aviation officials from the two countries on the sidelines of the China-Central Asia (C5+1) Civil Aviation Cooperation Working Group Conference in Tashkent, The Caspian Post reports, citing Qazinform.

The Kazakh delegation was led by Saltanat Tompiyeva, Chairwoman of the Civil Aviation Committee under the Ministry of Transport, while the Uzbek delegation was headed by Jamoliddin Nazarov, Head of the Air Transport Department at Uzbekistan's Ministry of Transport.

During the meeting, the sides discussed opportunities to expand air connectivity, increase the frequency of scheduled services and improve access to air travel between major cities in the two countries.

Under the agreement, airlines will be permitted to operate up to 60 flights per week on both the Almaty-Tashkent and Astana-Tashkent routes.

The two countries also agreed to raise the permitted number of weekly flights on other routes between them from 14 to 20.

The agreements are expected to expand travel options on popular routes and help accommodate growing demand for air services between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Increasing passenger traffic, alongside expanding business and tourism ties, continues to drive demand for flights and create further opportunities to strengthen transport connectivity between the two countries.