Air Astana Increases Services To Asia

News

AWIN First Dec 06 , 2010

Neelam Mathews

NEW DELHI

Central Asia-based Air Astana, national carrier of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, is continuing to expand its network in Asia. It increased frequencies on the Almaty-Bangkok route on Dec. 5 to four services per week. The seating capacity on the route will increase by almost 30% to match the steady increase in traffic. “Given the prevailing shift of global influence and commercial dynamism towards Asia in general, I foresee continued expansion of Air Astana’s network of services to the region in the years ahead,” said Peter Foster, president, Air Astana. Last month the carrier said it was in talks with Boeing to buy three new 787s for delivery in 2014. With a fleet of 22 aircraft, it has plans to increase its fleet size to 34 aircraft by 2014. It is also planning to acquire six Airbus A320s. Services on the Almaty to Kuala Lumpur route were increased to twice weekly early in November. Air Astana’s services to other long-haul destinations in Asia remain unchanged, with Almaty to Beijing served five times a week. Almaty to New Delhi is served three times a week and Almaty to Seoul, twice a week. Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s JS Company “Sovereign Wealth Fund SamrukKazyna” (51%) and BAE Systems (49%).