Uzbekistan's Airport E-Gates — Biometric Passport Control Expands From Samarkand to a 20-Gate Tashkent Hub

Uzbekistan has rolled out automated, biometric E-Gate passport control at its two main international gateways using two different implementing authorities. At Samarkand International Airport, the Border Control Unit of Uzbekistan's State Security Service switched on a locally built system on 30 August 2022 that combines document readers with facial-recognition cameras, matching each traveller's face against their passport, and adds algorithmic checks against unauthorised or duplicate passage and unattended luggage.
At Tashkent International Airport, state operator Uzbekistan Airports first deployed E-Gates in the departures hall in 2023, then expanded the system into arrivals on 12 November 2025 with eight additional gates, bringing the airport to 20 automated gates in total. The gates are restricted to Uzbek citizens holding biometric passports and process each passenger in roughly 15-20 seconds by scanning the passport and running facial recognition against it.
Neither airport's announcement includes an independently measured before/after baseline, error-rate data, or passenger-satisfaction figures - both frame the benefit qualitatively, as reduced processing time and higher checkpoint throughput. The approach is nonetheless being extended regionally: Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have discussed mutual recognition of their biometric national ID systems to streamline cross-border travel between the two countries.

Read the full analysis: https://dunyo.info/en/news/v-mezhdunarodnom-aeroportu-tashkenta-vnedrena-sistema-pasportnogo-kontrolya-E-Gate