In this paper, we study polynomials orthogonal with respect to a Pollaczek–Jacobi type weight
truerightleftwpJ(x,t)=e−txxαfalse(1−xfalse)β,1emt≥0,rightleft1emα>0,1emβ>0,1emx∈false[0,1false].The uniform asymptotic expansions for the monic orthogonal polynomials on the interval (0,1) and outside this interval are obtained. Moreover, near x=0, the uniform asymptotic expansion involves Airy function as ς=2n2t→∞,n→∞, and Bessel function of order α as ς=2n2t→0,n→∞; in the neighborhood of x=1, the uniform asymptotic expansion is associated with Bessel function of order β as n→∞. The recurrence coefficients and leading coefficient of the orthogonal polynomials are expressed in terms of a particular Painlevé III transcendent. We also obtain the limit of the kernel in the bulk of the spectrum. The double scaled logarithmic derivative of the Hankel determinant satisfies a σ‐form Painlevé III equation. The asymptotic analysis is based on the Deift and Zhou's steepest descent method.