Air Astana weighs the possibility of stopping direct air travel with Ukraine

Air Astana, a national air carrier in Kazakhstan, is keeping an eye on the situation around Ukraine and will immediately stop its direct flights between the countries if the situation worsens, said Tlek Abdrakhmanov, corporate communications manager in the company.

«To make sure that both Kazakhstan and Ukraine citizens are able to travel back home, Air Astana is going to continue to conduct flights between the two countries by an alternative route with a technical stop in Atyrau (the West Kazakhstan region),» said Abdrakhmanov.

The departure time from Almaty and Nur-Sultan hasn’t been changed while the arrival time in Kyiv and the departure time from Kyiv have been revised to a later time.

The airline is planning to notify those passengers who are headed to or from Kyiv by SMS. Also, all the information about flight time changes is available on airastana.com.

On February 21, President Vladimir Putin of Russia has acknowledged the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. Moreover, Russia is preparing to sign an agreement in friendship and mutual assistance with these breakaway Ukrainian regions.

As a result, the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France and many other countries from all over the globe have condemned Russia for flagrant breaching of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.