Air Astana is back in Dubai

AIR ASTANA, Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, recently inaugurated direct daily flights to Almaty International Airport (ALA) from Dubai International Airport (DXB). The route is served by Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class layout – 16 business class and 132 economy class seats with lead in economy class return fares starting at Dh1,745 ($475) including all taxes.  Almaty is complemented by Air Astana’s four times weekly services from the capital Astana (TSE) to Abu Dhabi, operating since 2010. 

Peter Foster, president and chief executive officer of Air Astana spoke to TTN at the commencement of the route and said: “This is the right time to recommence our services to Almaty. The Middle East economy is much stronger. Dubai International is now the second biggest airport in the world in terms of passenger numbers, achieving a 15 per cent growth in 2013 to 65.8 million; there is a strong appetite for travel to new destinations and the positivity around the UAE for the city that will host Expo 2020 is clear to see. With our new Visa Waiver Programme in place now for UAE travellers, we anticipate that Almaty will become an increasingly popular destination.”

Foster adds: “With much honesty, and perhaps little modesty, I can say that we are the best airline operating out of Central Asia. We have the first movers advantage in the region and there’s not much competition in our larger area at the moment.”

Thanks to the newly announced Kazakhstan Visa Waiver Programme visitors from 10 countries, including nationals of the UAE, can now easily enter Kazakhstan without any prior notification. The arrangement makes it even easier for business and leisure travellers to fly with the airline, which also offers an online visa application facility for Kazakhstan tourists.

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and a major commercial, cultural and financial centre within Central Asia. Located in the mountainous area of southern Kazakhstan with the beautifully rugged, snow-capped mountains, right at the city’s doorstep, Almaty offers UAE-based visitors a relatively mild climate with pleasantly warm summers and moderately cold winters.

GROWING PORTFOLIO

With the launch of its winter schedule at the end of October, Air Astana now operates scheduled international services to more than 40 cities in 18 countries throughout Asia, Central Asia/CIS/Caucasus, Europe and the Middle East. From December 15, Air Astana’s Asian network will expand to include a new service from Astana to Bangkok, which will complement the existing service from Almaty to Bangkok.

SKYTRAX WINNER

Air Astana was the first carrier within the CIS countries and Eastern Europe to receive a four-star rating from Skytrax and has taken the accolade of Best Airline in Central Asia and India for three consecutive years - in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Air Astana also received the award for Best Staff Service in Central Asia and India for the second year this year, ranking the Kazakh flag carrier amongst the world’s best airlines for passenger service across its two class cabin – Economy Class and Business Class.

Air Astana has codeshare agreements with Etihad Airlines in the UAE (in support of the former’s services to Almaty from Abu Dhabi), Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Turkish Airlines. As of October 26, Air Astana has entered into codeshare partnership with Air India.

Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund Samruk Kazyna and BAE Systems, with respective shares of 51 per cent and 49 per cent.