Kazakh carrier Air Astana has rolled out a new airline codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways. Effective now, it aims to expand travel opportunities for passengers of both airlines. Air Astana passengers will have through ticket access to Etihad Airways' flights to Mumbai, Riyadh, Dammam, Bahrain, Cairo, Doha, Kuwait City, and Muscat. Etihad's global network will be accessible to Air Astana passengers via easy connections in Abu Dhabi, with Air Astana's direct flights. Abu Dhabi flights from Astana launched in late October, and departures from Almaty start from 5 December 2024. “We are excited to partner with Etihad Airways, offering our passengers enhanced travel options and convenient access to a broader network,” said Zhanna Shayakhmetova, VP of Marketing & Sales at Air Astana. The airline codeshare agreement enables a single booking, simplified check-in and seamless baggage transfer between airlines. To date, Air Astana has signed airline codeshare agreements with eight airlines.

Air Astana is set to resume seasonal summer flights to two popular European holiday destinations. The airline’s summer Heraklion flights to Crete and Podgorica (Montenegro) will restart next month. Heraklion flights from Almaty resume on 6 June 2024. The route will run three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays on Airbus A321LR aircraft. Flight time is 6 hours and 30 minutes. Citizens of Kazakhstan require a Schengen visa to enter Greece. Air Astana has round-trip economy ticket starting from US$695. Flights from Almaty to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, will resume on 8 June 2024, with services on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. A second route from Astana to Podgorica starts the following day, also operating three times a week. Kazakhstan citizens can travel to Montenegro visa free for up to 30 days. Podgorica flights will be operated by Airbus A321LR aircraft, with a flight time 6 hours 55 minutes from Almaty and 6 hours 30 minutes from Astana. Tickets are available for purchase online or via the call centre, sales offices and accredited travel agencies. 

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The Air Astana Group has bolstered its fleet size to 50 aircraft. It has taken delivery of its 50^th plane with the arrival of a new Airbus A321neo from the assembly line in Hamburg, Germany. The latest A321neo cabin features existing business class and the new ‘Airspace Cabin’ economy class, which offers more seats. There are larger overhead lockers and a ‘moonlight’ cabin lighting system, that was previously only featured on the airline's long-haul aircraft. The expansion is the next phase of Air Astana's strategy to grow its fleet to 80 aircraft by the end of 2028.   

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This week Kazakhstan carrier Air Astana marks 20 years flying from London Heathrow. It will mark the anniversary by offering its customers 20% off bookings made until 17 December 2023. The UK continues to be a key market for Air Astana, with up to five flights weekly. Round trip fare starts from £381. Since first connecting London Heathrow and Kazakhstan in 2003, the national airline has flown close to 450,000 passengers between the countries. The Kazakhstan carrier continues to work with UK-based tour operators to drive awareness and increase visitor numbers to Kazakhstan. Recently Air Astana was selected by group escorted holiday specialist Jules Verne to provide return flights for all 2024 departures for a tour of Central Asia beginning in Almaty. Richard Ledger, Senior Regional Manager for the UK & Ireland, Western Europe and Americas, says: “Twenty successful years is a significant milestone for the airline, one which I’m considerably proud of.” “Promoting Kazakhstan as a destination to British travellers is a unique but rewarding challenge and this anniversary only highlights the fruits borne of this mission.”

Air Astana was recognised at the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) awards in Singapore earlier this month. It was held during the FTE APEX Asia Expo 2023. The airline was awarded in two categories within the Central/Southern Asia group for Best Cabin Service and Best Entertainment. APEX awards recognise airlines for the best passenger experience service delivery. It covers five categories: Cabin Service, Entertainment, Food and Beverage, Seat Comfort, and Wi-Fi. The award winners are chosen by anonymous, third-party passenger feedback and input through APEX's partnership with TripIt from Concur travel-organising app. More than one million verified flights were rated by passengers using a five-star scale. Data was gathered from over 600 global airlines. "We are delighted to once again be honoured for the airline's dedication to delivering an outstanding passenger experience," said Yelena Obukhova, Inflight VP, Air Astana. Air Astana previously received APEX Awards for Best Entertainment System and Inflight Food & Beverage in Central Asia. The airline has also previously won Diamond status at the Apex Health Safety audit, APEX Regional Passenger Choice Award, and APEX Five Star Major Airline award.

Kazakhstan carrier Air Astana has started operating its winter flight schedule with the resumption of several seasonal routes. It also increases frequencies to popular destinations in Asia and the Gulf. During the winter flight schedule, Air Astana will operate four flights per week on the London-Almaty route, five flights on the Almaty-Maldives route, and also four charter flights per week on the Almaty-Sri Lanka route. Flights from Almaty to Bangkok will increase from three to seven per week, while flights from Almaty to Phuket increase from four to eleven per week. Flights to Dubai from Almaty are boosted from seven to twelve per week, and from the Astana hub from six to ten per week. There will also be charter flights from both Almaty and Astana to Doha in Qatar once a week. Additionally, on the Almaty-Delhi route, the number of flights will increase to eleven each week and three per week to Jeddah.

Air Astana announced the resumption of a host of summer flights to top holiday destinations. It resumes summer season flights in early June to Heraklion, Crete, Bodrum, Podgorica in Montenegro and Batumi, Georgia. Flights to Heraklion, Bodrum and Podgorica will be flown on Airbus A321 jets; and flights to Batumi on Airbus A320 planes. Flights from Almaty to Heraklion operate four times a week starting on 1 June. Almaty - Bodrum service begins on 2 June three times a week. Flights to Podgorica start the next day and to Batumi on 6 June.

Air Astana, flag carrier of Kazakhstan, has relaunched its popular stopover programme. It allows passengers travelling onward to enjoy a short Kazakhstan holiday stopover in Almaty or Astana for just £17. A popular programme pre-pandemic, it allows a Kazakhstan holiday to discover local culture, delicacies and historical landmarks. Passengers connecting for a minimum of 10 hours through Almaty or Astana can reserve one night's accommodation and breakfast, allowing them to explore one of the cities. They can also pay £30 (35 USD) for a guided tour in either city.. A round-trip transfer to the airport is also included in the cost. To avail the offer, passengers need to book it online a minimum of four days (96 hours) prior to their arrival. Once booked, a confirmation voucher will be sent to the e-mail address. Richard Ledger, Senior Regional Manager said: " This revived programme is ideal for passengers to explore beyond the airport. "Pre-pandemic, it was an incredible popular scheme and more than 23,000 customers used it in 2019.”

Kazakhstan flag carrier Air Astana is celebrating 20 years flying to Dubai Dubai was amongst Air Astana’s earliest international destinations after the airline launched in 2002. Initial services from Almaty to Dubai began in August 2002 with twice weekly flights and it followed with additional departures from Nur-Sultan in 2007. The number of passengers travelling on flights between Kazakhstan and Dubai has dramatically increased over the past 20 years, with less than 7,000 carried in 2002 and over 101,000 already carried during the first half of 2022. “The UAE offers a wide range of leisure attractions and business opportunities, with Dubai proving to be a very popular destination for Kazakhstan travelers over the past 20 years,” said Adel Dauletbek, Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, Air Astana. In the coming winter season, flight schedules to and from Dubai will be improved. Frequencies are scheduled to peak at 17 per week by the end of 2022. Kazakhstan has re-established a visa-free regime for citizens of 57 countries, including the UAE, for up to 30 days to enter-exit and stay. Passengers arriving to Kazakhstan from foreign countries are not required to provide a certificate of vaccination or a negative test result for Covid-19.

Kazakhstan flag carrier Air Astana will launch flights to London from Almaty from 12 May 2022. The service will be operated by Airbus A321LR aircraft on Thursdays and Saturdays, with a stopover at Aktau in western Kazakhstan. A connecting domestic flight from Nur-Sultan will allow passengers from Kazakhstan’s capital to join the flight to London from Aktau. Flight KC901 will depart Almaty at 10.45 with onward flight from Aktau to London departing at 14.05 and arriving in London at 16.05. Return tickets including all taxes start from US$660 in Economy class and US$2,660 in Business class. Economy class promotional fares are available until 31 May for flights from the UK to Kazakhstan. In addition, Air Astana will launch flights from Almaty to Bodrum, Turkey on 27 May. Services will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays using Airbus A321 aircraft.

Kazakhstan carrier Air Astana has restarted its twice-weekly service from London Heathrow to Kazakhstan capital Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana). Flights on Saturdays and Wednesdays are operating using Airbus A321LR aircraft. Flight arrival into Nur-Sultan offers convenient onward connections to Tashkent in Uzbekistan and Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. Tickets are available at airastana.com and Air Astana sales offices. Kazakhstan recently established a visa-free regime for a number of countries, including the UK. Passengers are required to present a negative Covid-19 test taken 72 hours prior to entering the country or a valid vaccination passport. Air Astana has now suspended flights to Russia. It is a temporary move and it ‘is working with government on a solution to this problem in order to be able to restore flights as soon as possible,’ the airline said. Air Astana cited the withdrawal of insurance coverage for commercial flights to, from and over the Russian Federation. The airline operated flights to several cities in Russia. Passengers of cancelled flights are offered full refund at the point of purchase.

Kazakhstan based Air Astana Group recovered well from a loss-making, pandemic-hit by 2020 to repoort a profit after tax of USD36.1m in 2021. Total airline revenue increased by 92% year-on-year to US$756m. It carried a total of 6.6million passengers, an increase of 79% and the highest in its history. Its full-service arm Air Astana carried 3.5 million passengers whilst low-cost subsidiary FlyArystan carried 3.1 million passengers. Freight carriage grew by 27%. It ‘recovered from the effects of the global pandemic far quicker than expected,’ President and CEO Peter Foster says. Domestic traffic was strong and FlyArystan, in what is effectively its first full year of operation given that 2020 was partially a write-off, posted very strong growth and a small profit. “Regional international yields firmed, and new routes to tourist destinations exceeded all expectations,” Foster said. “2022 has thrown up new and early challenges. The troubles in Kazakhstan in early January were a V-shaped event for us however the conflict in Ukraine, a country in which we have had a strong presence since 2013, is posing multiple challenges.” “We pray that it may be resolved soon not only for business reasons but more importantly, so that people in affected countries to which we fly can return to their normal lives”.