Air Astana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Air Astana

Founded	29 August 2001; 23 years ago (2001-08-29)
Commenced operations	15 May 2002; 23 years ago (2002-05-15)
Hubs	Almaty International Airport Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Nomad Club
Subsidiaries	FlyArystan
Fleet size	50
Destinations	91
Parent company	Samruk-Kazyna
Headquarters	Almaty, Kazakhstan
Key people	Nurlan Zhakupov (Chairman) Peter Foster (President/CEO)
Employees	6 184

Air Astana (Kazakh: Эйр Астана) is a major airline group and the main airline of Kazakhstan. It is based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The airline used to be owned by the Government of Kazakhstan and BAE Systems PLC. Since February 2024, its shares are traded on stock exchanges in London, Astana, and Almaty. Air Astana is the biggest airline in Central Asia and the Caucasus region. It carries most of the passengers on flights within Kazakhstan and to nearby countries.

The airline was created in October 2001. It started flying passengers on May 15, 2002. Air Astana is special because it did not need money from the government or its owners to get through the COVID-19 pandemic. This helped it stay independent in how it manages its money and operations.

History of Air Astana

Air Astana has done very well since it started. Experts said it performed better than almost any other new airline in its first ten years. It was first planned to be only a domestic airline, flying within Kazakhstan. But in 2001, BAE Systems agreed to help start the airline. This was at the request of Kazakhstan's President, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Sir Richard Evans, who was chairman of BAE Systems, was key to this deal. Even though the airline faced some challenges at first, it grew strong.

Early Years: 2002–2019

Air Astana began flying under its first president, Lloyd Paxton. The airline leased its first three Boeing 737 planes. Commercial flights started on May 15, 2002.

In 2003, Air Astana leased Fokker 50 and Boeing 757 planes. It made a profit in its first full year of flying. When the previous main airline, Air Kazakhstan, went out of business in 2004, Air Astana grew quickly. It added international flights to places like Dubai, Istanbul, Moscow, Beijing, Frankfurt, and London.

In 2005, Peter Foster became the airline's president. He helped set up long-term plans for the airline. Air Astana has been profitable for most years since then. It was even ranked among the top 20 most profitable airlines in the world for several years.

In November 2016, Air Astana received its first Airbus A320neo plane. For a while, it was the only airline from Kazakhstan allowed to fly to the European Union. Air Astana was also the official airline for big events in Kazakhstan, like EXPO-2017 and the 2017 Winter Universiade.

In 2017, the airline got its first A321neo. In 2018, it received the first Embraer E190-E2. One of these E2 planes had a special Snow Leopard design. This was to help raise awareness about the danger these wild cats face. Air Astana also donated money to help protect Snow Leopards in Kazakhstan.

In 2018, Air Astana opened a new Aviation Technical Centre. This center helps the airline do all its own plane maintenance. Also in 2018, Air Astana decided to create a new, cheaper airline brand.

In 2019, Air Astana got its first Airbus A321LR. It was the first airline in its region to use this type of plane. The airline also became able to do complex maintenance checks on its Airbus planes by itself.

Recent Times: 2020–Present

In 2020, many flights were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. About 95% of Air Astana flights were stopped for a few weeks. The CEO promised that all customer requests for changes or refunds would be handled. Air Astana slowly started its domestic flights again from May 2020. International flights resumed from June 2020.

In 2021, Air Astana received a top 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating. This showed it was doing a great job preventing the spread of the virus during flights.

In February and March 2022, Air Astana helped bring Kazakhstan citizens home from Ukraine. Flights went from Poland to Almaty and Astana. The CEO even went to Kyiv to help organize these flights.

On March 11, 2022, Air Astana stopped all flights to, from, and over Russia. This was due to new rules and safety concerns related to the situation in Ukraine.

Air Astana signed a deal to lease three new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner planes. These large planes are expected to arrive starting in 2025.

In 2023, Air Astana opened a new Flight Training Centre. It has a very realistic flight simulator. This is the first such simulator for Air Astana and in Kazakhstan. In 2023, Air Astana also completed its first major six-year maintenance check on a plane at its center.

The Air Astana Group had a record profit in 2023. Its total income was about $900.6 million. In February 2024, Air Astana became a publicly traded company. Its shares are now listed on the London, Astana, and Kazakhstan stock exchanges.

How Air Astana Works

Our Team

Air Astana has over 6,000 employees. Most of them are in Kazakhstan. The airline has 460 pilots, and some of them are from other countries. Since 2008, Air Astana has trained many young Kazakhstani people to become pilots. The airline also has over 1,100 flight attendants, all from Kazakhstan.

FlyArystan: Our Low-Cost Airline

In November 2018, Air Astana announced plans for a new low-cost airline called FlyArystan. A low-cost airline offers cheaper tickets by having fewer fancy services. FlyArystan started flying on May 1, 2019. It uses Airbus 320 planes. FlyArystan has grown very fast. This has helped Kazakhstan become one of the fastest-growing countries for domestic flights.

Our Business Numbers

This table shows how many passengers Air Astana carried and how much profit it made each year.

Where Air Astana Flies

Air Astana flies to many places around the world. It has 91 routes, including 48 international and 43 domestic destinations. The airline focuses on flying to most big cities in Central Asia and the Caucasus region.

Flights in Our Region

Air Astana flies to many cities in Central Asia and the Caucasus. These include Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Tbilisi (Georgia), and Dushanbe (Tajikistan). It flies to these cities from both Almaty and Astana.

Before the pandemic, Air Astana also flew to many cities in Russia. These included Moscow, St.Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Kazan, and Samara. However, due to new rules and safety concerns, all flights to and over Russia were stopped in March 2022.

Flights to Asia

Before the pandemic, Air Astana flew daily to Beijing from Almaty and Astana. It also flew to Ürümqi in China. Flights to Seoul (Korea) were also daily from Almaty and twice a week from Astana. Flights between Almaty and Hong Kong have been stopped for now.

As of May 2023, flights to Beijing and Seoul are back to how often they flew before the pandemic.

Flying to Europe: Rules and Safety

From 2009 to 2014, Air Astana's international flights were affected by rules from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Union (EU). In 2009, most airlines from Kazakhstan were banned from flying to the EU. This was because of safety concerns with Kazakhstan's aviation authority.

However, Air Astana was allowed to keep flying to the EU. This was because of its strong safety programs and how it registered its planes. The EU did put some limits on Air Astana's flights at first. But these limits were slowly removed as the airline showed excellent safety. By December 2015, all restrictions were lifted. This allowed Air Astana to plan new flights to Europe.

During the pandemic, Air Astana kept flying between Atyrau and Amsterdam. This helped transport important oil workers. Since July 2020, other flights to the EU have slowly started again. As of May 2023, flights to Frankfurt and Amsterdam are back to normal. Flights from Almaty and Aktau to London, and from Almaty to Heraklion, also operate several times a week.

Fun Travel Destinations

During the pandemic, Air Astana had to stop flights to places like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. But in October 2020, as travel rules eased, the airline started flying to fun vacation spots. These included Antalya (Turkey) and Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt). It also started new flights to The Maldives and Colombo (Sri Lanka). The airline calls these "lifestyle routes" because people stay longer at these destinations.

Sharing Flights with Other Airlines

Air Astana has agreements with other airlines to share flights. This means you can book a ticket with Air Astana, but part of your journey might be on another airline's plane. This is called a codeshare agreement.

Air Astana also has interline agreements with many other airlines. This means they can issue tickets that combine flights on different airlines.

Our Fleet of Planes

Current Planes

The Air Astana fleet (not including its sister airline FlyArystan) has these planes as of December 2022:

Airbus A320neo

Airbus A321neo

Boeing 767-300ER

Past Planes

Air Astana used to fly these types of planes:

Services on Board

An Air Astana business class cabin

An Air Astana economy class cabin

Cabin Classes

Air Astana offers two main types of service on its planes: Business class and Economy class. On its Airbus 321neo Long Range planes, it also has an Economy Sleeper option. Almost all planes have individual entertainment screens for movies and shows.

Frequent Flyer Program

The Nomad Club is Air Astana's program for frequent flyers. You earn points when you fly, which can lead to different membership levels like Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Blue. These levels give you special benefits. The Nomad Club also works with Lufthansa's Miles & More and Asiana Airlines's Asiana Club programs.

Accidents and Incidents

• On November 11, 2018, Air Astana Flight 1388, an Embraer ERJ-190 plane, had serious control problems after taking off. This happened because some control cables were put in incorrectly after maintenance. The pilots, along with maintenance staff on board, worked for over 90 minutes. They managed to land the plane safely at Beja Airbase. The plane was too damaged to fly again. The Air Astana pilots were praised for their bravery in preventing a crash. They even received an award for their outstanding courage.

See also

In Spanish: Air Astana para niños