Air Astana, the flag carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is launching new routes from Almaty, Astana and Aktau to destinations in Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkey.
The new services from Almaty include St Petersburg in Russia (twice weekly from December 2), Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan (three times weekly from November 21) and Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan (three times weekly from December 2).
Twice weekly services from Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, to Yekaterinburg in southern Russia will launch on December 8.
A new once a week service from Aktau in western Kazakhstan to Istanbul will commence on November 28.
Existing regional services already operate from Almaty to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, Novosibirsk in southern Russia and Urumqui in western China.
A fleet of new generation Embraer E-190 airliners has been selected to specifically operate on Air Astana’s expanding Central Asia network, with the first of three leased aircraft scheduled for delivery in early 2011.
Air Astana experienced strong growth during the first half of 2010, with passenger numbers increasing by 14 percent and revenue jumping 24 percent to US$245 million compared to the same period in 2009.
