DOHA, Qatar, May 7, 2026, 01:03 (GMT+3)
Qatar Airways plans to hire its first batch of Uzbek workers this May and June, starting with 65 recruits for positions like flight attendants, engineering, and airport operations, according to Uzbek state media. Down the line, the company may bring on as many as 1,600 Uzbek aviation professionals.
This comes as a tricky juncture for Qatar Airways. The flag carrier is piecing its network back together following months of disrupted schedules. According to SimpleFlying, recent schedule data indicates a steep 49% drop in the airline’s U.S. flights for the second quarter of 2026 compared to the prior year, equating to a reduction of over 1,300 flights.
Labour supply, then, is more than just something for diplomats to debate. Qatar Airways plans to ramp up its summer network to over 150 destinations starting June 16. Still, the carrier cautions that schedules remain subject to change or cancellation, whether for operational, regulatory, or safety reasons.
Uzbek reports say the recruitment deal came after a round of discussions in Doha, with Uzbekistan’s Migration Agency, the Foreign Ministry, and the Uzbek embassy in Qatar all at the table. Those talks touched on labour demand in sectors like medicine, tourism, aviation, and IT, and also mapped out specialized training programs back in Uzbekistan to fit what Qatari employers are looking for.
Qatar’s state news agency reported that on May 4, Minister of Labour Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al Marri sat down with Bekhzod Musaev, who chairs Uzbekistan’s Migration Agency, for talks aimed at deepening cooperation in the labour sector. According to The Peninsula, which quoted QNA, the discussion zeroed in on workforce collaboration and labour migration frameworks.
Uzbek media said Qatar Airways Vice President Fathi Atti was part of a parallel aviation effort. The focus: a broader plan aimed at university-trained pilots, mechanics, electrical and general engineers—preparing them for jobs at Qatar Airways.
Qatar and Uzbekistan plan to launch a wider labour channel, according to Uzbek sources. Following discussions with Abdulhadi Barqan, who heads Qatar’s state employment agency Jusour, plans emerged for an “Uzbekistan–Qatar Labor Forum” in Tashkent. More than 50 Qatari employers are expected to attend the event in September 2026. YuzNews
Competition is intense. Emirates, the primary Gulf hub competitor to Qatar Airways in Dubai, kicked off a hiring spree last year, seeking 17,300 new hires—including cabin crew, pilots, engineers, and ground services—for the financial year ending March 2026, according to Reuters.
Plenty of details remain missing. Pay bands, visa terms, and training dates weren’t disclosed, nor was a concrete hiring timeline for that bigger 1,600-person pipeline. And for now, the initial confirmed group is just a drop compared to the scale of Qatar Airways’ network ambitions.
Qatar Airways continues to take a measured approach to bringing back its suspended routes. According to its latest update, the carrier plans to restart passenger service to Baghdad, Basra, and Erbil on May 10. For Baghdad, freighter-only cargo flights are set to return a few days earlier, on May 7.
Uzbekistan gets a defined pathway to better-skilled jobs abroad in this deal. Qatar Airways taps into fresh labor just as recovery hinges on more than aircraft, routes, or even airspace. Still up in the air: can 65 trainees turn into a steady flow of recruits?
