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Air Astana JSC (; ), commonly known as Air Astana, is the flag carrier airline of Kazakhstan, with its corporate headquarters in Almaty. Founded in 2001 as a joint venture between the Government of Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna (51%) and BAE Systems (49%), the airline commenced operations in May 2002, launching its first regular scheduled domestic flight between Almaty and Astana. In 2024, Air Astana became a dual-listed company with shares traded on both the Astana International Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
Air Astana is part of the Air Astana Group, which also includes FlyArystan, Kazakhstan's first low-cost carrier launched in 2019. FlyArystan initially operated under Air Astana's air operator certificate but received its own certificate in 2024, enabling it to operate independently as a wholly owned subsidiary.
The airline holds a dominant position in the Central Asian aviation market, commanding approximately 69% of Kazakhstan's domestic air travel and around 40% of the intra-regional market, which covers routes within Central Asia and parts of the Caucasus region. In 2024, Air Astana and FlyArystan together carried approximately 9 million passengers.
Air Astana operates a modern fleet primarily composed of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, serving more than 60 destinations across Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Its Airline hub is Almaty International Airport, with a secondary hub at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport. The airline provides scheduled passenger and cargo services on both short- and long-haul routes.
The airline employs approximately 6,000 staff members. Additionally, Air Astana has emphasised fleet modernisation and environmental responsibility as part of its ongoing development. Since its founding, the airline has steadily expanded its network and fleet, positioning itself as a key player in regional air transport and contributing to the growth of Kazakhstan's aviation sector.
Richard Evans, BAE Systems' chairman, was considered instrumental to the success of the deal. The radar contract never materialized, however, and subsequent senior management changes and strategic reviews at BAE Systems led to the closure of its offices in Kazakhstan. Additionally, despite the support of Nazarbayev, the start-up, initially seen as a foreign entity, faced immediate and vocal opposition from many elements of Kazakhstan's media and political establishment.
Later in 2003, the airline leased Fokker 50s from Aircraft Finance Trading BV (AFT) and three Boeing 757s from Pegasus Leasing Corp. In its first full year of operations, Air Astana declared a net profit in 2003. When Air Kazakhstan, the previous flag carrier, declared bankruptcy in February 2004, Air Astana expanded its operations from its domestic network to key international routes including Dubai, Istanbul, Moscow, Beijing, Frankfurt, and London.
Early growth pains and disagreements over fleet plans and hub strategy led to tensions between the shareholders and a management change in the autumn of 2005. Peter Foster, a former executive of Cathay Pacific who had led the rehabilitation team at in 1999 before a spell as CEO at Royal Brunei Airlines, was appointed as the airline's president on 1 October 2005. Long-term development plans and management structures were established that have remained largely unchanged since then. The airline has been consistently profitable and was listed in the top 20 most profitable airlines in terms of net margin in the world for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012, according to Airline Business and Air Finance Journal, which ranked it 20th in its 2015 survey of global airline financial ratings, with a score of BBB−.
In an article on BAE Systems' offset programmes (10/10/13) the Financial Times stated, "BAE's 49 percent stake in Kazakhstan's Air Astana became one of the company's highest-yielding investments".
Air Astana received its first Airbus A320neo in November 2016. Until 8 December 2016, Air Astana was the only Kazakh airline allowed to fly to the European Union.
Air Astana was the official air carrier of Expo 2017 and the official carrier and general partner of the 2017 Winter Universiade, which took place from 29 January to 8 February 2017 in Almaty. Also, in 2017, Air Astana took delivery of its first A321neo, and in 2018, its first Embraer E190-E2. The E2 aircraft featured a special Snow leopard livery to draw global attention to the threat of extinction faced by this large wild cat, which is a native to the mountain ranges of southern Kazakhstan. Air Astana also donated to Kazakhstan's Zoology Association, which is taking urgent action to protect the diminishing numbers of in the country.
In 2018, Air Astana marked its 16th anniversary with the opening of a new Aviation Technical Centre at Astana's international airport, which enabled Air Astana to undertake all aircraft engineering and servicing requirements up to a heavy maintenance level. Air Astana decided to establish a low-cost brand in 2018.
In 2019, Air Astana took delivery of the first Airbus A321LR aircraft under an operating lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation and became the first operator of the aircraft type in the CIS. Also in 2019, Air Astana became the first airline in Kazakhstan able to independently perform heavy maintenance C1 and C2 checks on Airbus family aircraft at its engineering bases in Almaty and Astana.
In 2021, Air Astana received the highest level 5-star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax; and became the first airline from the CIS and Southeast Asia to successfully pass an APEX audit, with Diamond status being awarded for minimizing and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus during flights.
On 28 February and 1 March 2022, Air Astana successfully undertook repatriation flights for Kazakhstan citizens in Ukraine. Flights were operated between Katowice in southern Poland and Almaty/Astana. CEO Peter Foster went to Kyiv on the last international flight into the country on 23 February with Alexander Neboga, a senior colleague, to organize repatriation flights, and returned on the first of those.
On 11 March 2022, Air Astana informed that due to the withdrawal of insurance coverage for commercial flights to, from and over the Russian Federation, all flights to the Russian Federation were suspended with immediate effect.
Air Astana signed an agreement with Air Lease Corporation for the long-term lease of three new wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. The leased aircraft are scheduled to begin arriving in the first half of 2025.
In 2023, Air Astana commissioned its new Flight Training Centre at Astana International Airport. The new training centre is equipped with the L3 Harris Reality Seven full-flight simulation that delivers the most realistic training environment. The simulator is the first one with Air Astana and the first ever installation in Kazakhstan.
In 2023, Air Astana completed its first six-year C-Check at the carrier's engineering and technical center in Astana.
In 2023, Air Astana Group achieved a record result for nine months of operation, total revenue and other income amounted to about $900.6 million, which is 20.5% more than a year ago, when the result was $747.2 million.
In February 2024, Air Astana completed its initial public offering and was listed on the London, Astana and Kazakhstan stock exchanges.
In 2024, Air Astana Group carried 9 million passengers, up nearly one million from 2023. Revenue rose 12.4% to US$1.308 million, with operating profit up 14.9% to US$145.7 million and net profit up 6.0% to US$65.2 million, excluding non-recurring items. The Group reported continued growth in its first year as a public company.
After a pandemic-driven halt from March to May 2020, the airline resumed services from Almaty and Astana to Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, and between Almaty and St Petersburg, both operated in codeshare with its long-term code-share partner S7 Airlines of Russia. In addition, FlyArystan started operating from Karaganda International Airport to Moscow Domodedovo, and from Almaty to Novosibirsk.
On 11 March 2022, the group suspended all flights to, from, and over Russia due to sanctions and restrictions imposed on several essential business partners as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In Central Asia and the Caucasus, the airline flies to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan) both from Almaty and Astana. Following the global pandemic, all these routes, which were temporarily suspended from March to May 2020, were resumed, and FlyArystan started operating in Kutaisi (Georgia).
Following the pandemic, flights that had been operated daily to Seoul (Korea) from Almaty and twice a week from Astana have been reduced to a once-weekly flight between Almaty and Seoul because of travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Korea. Flights between Almaty and Hong Kong have been indefinitely suspended.
As of May 2023, all flights to Beijing and Seoul have been restored to their pre-pandemic frequencies.
During the global pandemic, the airline was able to maintain flights between Atyrau and Amsterdam (its only international route at that time) to transport key oil field workers to and from Western Kazakhstan. Since July 2020 its other EU operations have gradually resumed, and by January 2022, the airlines were operating from Astana to Frankfurt (in codeshare with Lufthansa) and London Heathrow, in addition to its Amsterdam and Frankfurt flights from Atyrau and Uralsk.
As of May 2023, all flights to Frankfurt and Amsterdam have been restored to their pre-pandemic frequencies. As of June 2023, flights from Almaty to London, and from Aktau to London, operate 5 times per week, and flights from Almaty to Heraklion operate 4 times per week.
Long-haul routes are expanding towards South and East Asia, with flights to Delhi, Seoul (operated in code-sharing with Asiana Airlines), Beijing, Bangkok, and Phuket. In late October 2024, a new service from Almaty to Phu Quoc (Vietnam) began, operating five times a week. Air Astana is also increasing its presence in the Middle East with new services to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, reflecting the rapid growth in business and leisure traffic between Kazakhstan and the region. The airline also expanded its network of services to Saudi Arabia by launching direct flights to Jeddah and Medina from Shymkent and Almaty, respectively.
From European cities, Air Astana operates flights from Astana to Frankfurt, from Atyrau to Amsterdam, and a non-stop flight from Almaty to London. In August 2024, Air Astana signed a codeshare agreement with JAL, one of the world's best airlines, enhancing connectivity between Kazakhstan and Japan for both business and leisure travellers, as well as more widely fostering greater movement of people and goods between the two countries.
| + Air Astana Group fleet | ||||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 15 | — | — | 180 | 180 | All fly under the FlyArystan brand. |
| Airbus A320neo | 24 | — | 16 | 132 | 148 | 13 fly under the FlyArystan brand. |
| Airbus A321-200 | 3 | — | 28 | 151 | 179 | |
| Airbus A321neo | 5 | — | 28 | 151 | 179 | |
| 156 | 184 | |||||
| Airbus A321LR | 11 | — | 16 | 150 | 166 | |
| 3 | — | 30 | 193 | 223 | Includes the last passenger Boeing 767 ever built. | |
| Boeing 787-9 | — | 3 | TBA | Delivery is delayed. | ||
| Airbus A319-100 | 2008 | 2018 |
| Boeing 737-700 | 2002 | 2007 |
| Boeing 737-800 | 2002 | 2007 |
| Boeing 757-200 | 2003 | 2020 |
| Embraer E190-E2 | 2011 | 2024 |
| Fokker 50 | 2004 | 2013 |
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