Air Astana Reports 2018 Unaudited Net Profit of US$5.3 Million

Air Astana has declared an unaudited net profit for 2018 of US$5.3 million.

Total airline revenue rose by 10% to US$840.8 million.

Capacity as measured in ASKs rose by 5% and total passenger numbers by 3%, to 4.3 million.

Transit business via the airline’s Astana and Almaty hubs rose by 48%, and now represents close to 40% of total international traffic.

Operating costs rose by 14%, driven mainly by an average jet fuel price increase of 27.5%.

Commenting on the results, Peter Foster, Air Astana President and CEO, said, “2018 was a challenging year to due to higher-priced fuel, and pressure on international yields and domestic market share due to competitive capacity increases on key routes.”

Looking forward, Foster noted a fuel price reduction of 16% from its peak in June 2018, and pointed also to the expected May launch of its low-cost unit, FlyArystan.

“The low-cost airline is a great business opportunity on domestic and shorter regional routes. The travelling public will be delighted by the low fares we have in store, as long as the government facilitates the legislative changes required to enable FlyArystan to launch,” Peter said.

Air Astana currently operates flights to over 60 domestic and international routes with a fleet of Boeing 767/757, Airbus A320 Family aircraft including A320neo and A321neo and Embraer E190 / E190-E2 aircraft.

The airline is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, and BAE Systems, with respective shares of 51% and 49%. 

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