New budget airline FlyArystan completed its first calendar year of operation with an impressive 94% load factor.
The Almaty based carrier, which is the low cost subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s Air Astana, launched just eight months ago in May 2019.
In total it carried 700,581 passengers on more than 4,000 flights through December 31, 2019.
It started operations with two A320 aircraft in May and has since added two more in late-2019.
FlyArystan also launches its first international flight in December with service from Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) to Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport.
The airline says its launch has created more demand for air travel.
"2019 was an exceptional start for FlyArystan. The people of Kazakhstan embraced our low fares and took to the skies in great numbers. I’m very pleased to say that many thousands of our customers were flying for the first time," said Zhanar Zhailauova, the airline’s sales and marketing director.
"The significant growth in passenger numbers across all airports where we operate in Kazakhstan is testament that people will fly if it is more affordable for them to do so."
