Air Astana Celebrates 18th Anniversary with Resumption of Domestic Flights

Air Astana, Kazakhstan's flag carrier, has celebrated its 18th anniversary with the resumption of a select number of scheduled domestic flights.

The airline expects to operate approximately 30% of its pre-COVID19 network by the end of May.

Air Astana resumed scheduled flights between Almaty and Nur-Sultan (Astana) on 1 May 2020, and scheduled flights from each of those hubs to select regional centres across Kazakhstan on 11 May 2020.

Services to Aktobe and Kyzylorda from Almaty and Nur-Sultan resumed on 12 and 13 May respectively, whilst flights to Oskemen from Almaty and Nur-Sultan recommenced on 13 and 14 May respectively.

All flights are being operated by Airbus A320/A321 and Embraer E190-E2 aircraft.

“Over the past 18 years Air Astana has established itself as a strong and successful airline, with a sound safety and operational record and award-winning passenger service, and consistently strong financial performance,” said Peter Foster, President and CEO of the Air Astana group. “The present challenge is immense and we don’t expect some of our markets to improve for many years, however our track record of strong operational performance and financial results will enable us to strengthen our position in both Kazakhstan and the region when the recovery comes, as it will.”

In March, Air Astana reported a net profit of just over US$30 million on revenue of approximately US$900 million for 2019, with passenger numbers increasing by 17% to over 5 million during the year.

The airline has continued to modernise its fleet over the past 12 months, with the first of eight Airbus A321LR aircraft entering service in October 2019. The LR will replace Boeing 757-200s and Boeing 767-300s on international services to Asia and Europe, with the current situation accelerating that process.

The airline also took delivery of an additional Embraer E190-E2 aircraft during the year, which will replace earlier generation Embraer 190s on regional services across Central Asia and the Caucasus and on smaller domestic routes.

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