Aerospace Diary

Europe Aviation Daily May 20 , 2010 , p. 14 Neelam Mathews Kazakhstan-based Air Astana is expanding its central Asian hub in Almaty with new services planned to China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Three Embraer E-190s were selected last year to operate on Air Astana's expanding Central Asia network, with the first of three leased aircraft scheduled for delivery in early 2011. Airbus A320 family aircraft will operate these services in the interim. Air Astana will launch services to Urumchi, in western China; Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, and Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, during the second half of 2010. Regional services already operate from Almaty to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan and Novosibirsk in southern Russia. Additional new routes to other cities in southern Russia, including Omsk and Yekaterinburg are also under consideration. "Services launched from Almaty to Central Asian destinations in 2008-09 have proved enormously popul...

Travel/Distribution Systems Aviation Daily May 11 , 2010 , p. 12 Neelam Mathews Kazakhstan’s national carrier Air Astana is adopting a long-term training strategy as it grows in Central Asia. Through its new partnership with U.S-based Aerosim Technologies, the airline will soon establish a Pilot Training Centre in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Air Astana says it will save about $400,000 a year on training costs. Through this tie-up, Air Astana will become the first airline from Asia and Europe to acquire Aerosim’s Enhanced Virtual Procedures Trainer (EVPT) for training and developing flight operations of Airbus A320 pilots. Aerosim’s Enhanced Virtual Procedure Trainer is designed to optimize training time and improve the learning process for pilots and maintenance personnel. The airline has also launched a pilot instructor program in cooperation with Delta Air Lines in Atlanta. Thirteen Air Astana pilots are already certified as instructors, and another 30 are taking part in the prog...