Air Astana Looks Beyond Kazakhstan for Growth In Tough Times
by Neelam Mathews - June 22, 2016, 9:06 AM Air Astana hopes that next year's Expo 2017 event will boost traffic to and from Kazakhstan. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] A highly devalued currency and collapsing oil revenues have left Kazakhstan’s economy in the doldrums, leaving flag carrier Air Astana to recalibrate its business plan with a stronger emphasis on international routes. In February 2017, the airline is due to start paying for three new Boeing 787 widebodies that may prove to be a heavy drain on its U.S. dollar reserves. At a June 15 press briefing in Almaty, Air Astana president and CEO Peter Foster did not definitively confirm that the 787 deliveries will go ahead as planned. “That is something we have got a close eye on given the weak currency market,” he told AIN . “We will have to see how the market develops. Obviously, markets are not huge at the moment and growth has slowed down.” Air Astana’s plan has been...