The company signed a contract to lend two cargo carriers to Uzbekistan Airways for the next five years during an investment promotion event held by the Uzbek government in Seoul yesterday.

Participants in the signing ceremony included Korea’s Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, Uzbek Finance Minister Rustam Azimov and Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group.

Hanjin, Korean Air’s parent group, also formed a joint venture with Central Asia Trans, a ground transportation company in Uzbekistan, to begin delivery service from Navoi International Airport. Navoi Airport is located in the middle of Uzbekistan, about 430 kilometers southwest of Tashkent, the country’s capital.

With the deal, the Korean air carrier aims to expand its business to the central Asian market where it expects a growing demand for flight services. The joint venture between Hanjin and Central Asia Trans will also allow the Korean company to set a ground transportation network in Central Asia, the company said.

In May, last year, the two airlines struck a preliminary deal to build an international logistics center at Navoi Airport in the Central Asian country and to operate cargo flights on the Incheon-Navoi-Milano route.

Korean Air has provided its Uzbek partner with consultation on management and operations of a new logistics center at Navoi Airport for three months last year, the air carrier added.