JSC Uzbekistan Airways, operating as Uzbekistan Airways (, ; ), is the flag carrier airline of Uzbekistan, headquartered in Tashkent. From its hub at Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport, the airline serves a number of domestic destinations; the company also flies international services to Asia, Europe and North America. History Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 1992 authorised the creation of Uzbekistan Airways. The airline was established on 28 January 1992, and took over the operations of the Uzbekistan division of Aeroflot on 31 May 1992. In 1993, Uzbekistan Airways acquired its first two Airbus A310-300s. The two A310s were counted as part of the fleet , along with Russian-built aircraft (25 Antonov An-24/26s, one Ilyushin Il-62, 13 Ilyushin Il-76s, one Ilyushin Il-86s, 23 Tupolev Tu-154 and three Yakovlev Yak-40s). By this time, the airline was still the sole operator in the country. Late in 1995, the carrier ordered its first Boeing aircraft: two Boeing 767-300ERs and a single Boeing 757. Uzbekistan Airways was the launch customer for the Ilyushin Il-114; it took delivery of the first, locally assembled aircraft, in July 1998. In June 1998, the airline took delivery of the last-built Airbus A310 ever (msn. 706, reg. UK-31003). Two more Boeing 757-200s were directly ordered from Boeing in April 1999. Late in 1999, the company took ownership of the first of these two 184-seater Boeing 757-200. At , the airline had 16,296 employees. At this time, the fleet comprised three Airbus A310-300s, three Antonov An-12s, one Antonov An-24, 18 Antonov An-24Bs, three Antonov An-24RVs, three Boeing 757-200s, two Boeing 767-300ERs, three Avro RJ85s, four Ilyushin Il-114s, two Ilyushin Il-62s, six Ilyushin Il-62Ms, ten Ilyushin Il-76Ts, nine Ilyushin Il-86s, 15 Tupolev Tu-154Bs, two Tupolev Tu-154Ms and 19 Yakovlev Yak-40s. Destinations served at the time included Almaty, Amsterdam, Andizhan, Ashgabat, Athens, Baku, Bangkok, Beijing, Bishkek, Bukhara, Chelyabinsk, Delhi, Dhaka, Ekaterinburg, Fergana, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Jeddah, Karshi, Kazan, Khabarovsk, Kuala Lumpur, London, Mineralnye Vody, Moscow, Namangan, New York, Novosibirsk, Nukus, Omsk, Paris, Riyadh, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Samarkand, Seoul, Sharjah, Simferopol, St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Tel Aviv, Termez, Tyumen, Ufa and Urgench. Two more Boeing 767-300ERs, equipped with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 powerplants, were ordered in 2001 and scheduled for delivery in 2002. Uzbekistan Airways carried 2.625 million passengers in 2014, a 1.9% decrease year-on-year (YOY), whereas 4.6% more cargo was handled YOY. Destinations Since its formation, Uzbekistan Airways