Leading airline from the center of Eurasia

Aviation company boosts cooperation in Chinese market

Air Astana is the flag carrier of Kazakhstan. Its two major shareholders are the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and BAE Systems PLC of the United Kingdom.

Air Astana commenced operations in May 2002. In the same year the airline had its inaugural flight to the Chinese market and since then has gradually expanded its route network in China. Before the pandemic, it operated four direct passenger routes between Kazakhstan and China, respectively from Almaty, its economic hub, and Astana, its capital, to Beijing and Urumqi.

With the gradual recovery of the international aviation market in China, Air Astana resumed its Beijing-Almaty and Beijing-Astana direct flights in November 2022 and March 2023, and now operates six and one flights per week respectively. These routes are operated by the company's brand-new Airbus A321 long- range fleet with a greatly enhanced cabin and facilities for passengers.

Transiting via Almaty or Astana, passengers can travel with Air Astana to further destinations, such as Tashkent, Dushanbe, Bishkek, Tbilisi, Baku, Istanbul, London and Dubai. For transfer passengers in Almaty or Astana, the company offers its Stopover Holiday program, which includes a one night stay in a three to four star hotel, buffet breakfast and airport transfer.

Since July 8, 2022, Chinese citizens can enjoy a 14-day visa-free regime to Kazakhstan given that they have a return ticket within that period. It is expected that soon visa-free policy will be also applied for Kazakhstan citizens to China. These policies will bring great convenience to people travelling between China and Kazakhstan, and further promote the resumption of flights between the two countries.

As the first four-star airline in Central Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States awarded by Skytrax, and the Best Airline in Central Asia and CIS awarded 10 times in a row, Air Astana is committed to providing the highest-quality service to its passengers.

With its excellent on-board entertainment system, the company recently received an APEX Award in the "Best entertainment system in Central and South Asia".

In addition, Air Astana complies to the highest standards of safety, certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA Part 145 and by the IATA Operating Safety Audit, or IOSA, since 2007.

In May 2019, Air Astana launched its subsidiary, FlyArystan, one of the first true low-cost airlines in the Central Asia region. FlyArystan has been a huge success with 366 percent growth since its inception, significantly increasing Air Astana Group's share of the domestic market and injecting new vitality into the group.

Today, Air Astana Group has 43 Western aircraft with an average age of 5.3 years. The fleet consists of Boeing 767, Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321, Airbus A321neo, A321LR, and Embraer E190-E2 aircraft. Air Astana Group operates over 90 domestic and international routes.