Pakistan and Turkmenistan are considering restarting cargo and commercial flights between Islamabad and Ashgabat, a proposal that could open a new channel for trade and business connectivity with Central Asia alongside road and rail routes that traders increasingly view as unreliable. The idea comes at a time when trade between the two countries remains limited despite their geographical proximity. Official trade data showed that Pakistan exported goods worth about $1.18 million to Turkmenistan and imported goods worth $5.87 million in the fiscal year 2025 to 2026, which took total bilateral trade to around $7.05 million. Sabz Ali Khan, Director at the Directorate General of Trade Organization, said improved air connectivity could create another route for moving people, goods and business services while adding to commercial links with Central Asia.
Khan said the existing trade volume also shows room for Pakistani exporters to identify products in demand in Turkmenistan instead of depending on the narrow range of goods currently traded. He said better trade facilitation, transport connectivity, market intelligence, business to business linkages and participation in trade exhibitions could help exporters reach this underused market. The importance of alternative connectivity has grown because disruptions on the traditional overland route through Afghanistan have exposed the weakness of access to Central Asian markets. According to Asian Development Bank (ADB) data from Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) corridor monitoring, average road border crossing times across the network rose from 6.3 hours in 2010 to 14.1 hours in 2024, and ADB recently approved a $400 million regional facility to modernise border crossings and reduce transport and logistics costs across CAREC economies.
Khan said such constraints make multimodal connectivity increasingly important for Pakistan, and he pointed to existing trade arrangements with Uzbekistan as an example, including a Preferential Trade Agreement and an Agreement on Transit Trade that provide a framework for expanding commercial and transport links. He said bilateral links with Central Asian states should be seen as part of a broader regional transit network rather than isolated trade relationships. According to him, Uzbekistan has a central location that could connect Pakistani businesses with other Central Asian markets, but sustainable trade would require predictable transit rules, efficient customs clearance and alternative routes when corridors are disrupted. The same concerns were raised at the September CAREC meetings in Mongolia, where Pakistan called for Corridors 5 and 6 to develop into integrated economic corridors that link Central Asia with the Arabian Sea through logistics, rail, road and port infrastructure.
Rana Asif Khan, Founder President of the International Road Transport Chamber of Pakistan, said greater use of multimodal cargo systems could further improve regional connectivity by combining air, road and maritime transport. He said a recently introduced multimodal cargo model has created an additional option for cross border trade, especially for shipments that move between different transport modes under a more integrated documentation framework. The model is currently centred on Karachi, and he believes that extending it to Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta and Gwadar could widen the regional logistics network of Pakistan. In his view, direct air and multimodal links would be especially useful for time sensitive and high value cargo, while road, rail and maritime routes would continue to handle larger trade volumes, which means the proposed flights would matter more as part of a wider connectivity network than as a standalone solution.
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