Air Astana changes registration of its fleet and wants to beef up passenger traffic

According to the press service of Air Astana, the company transported 7.4 million passengers last year. This year, it is planning to beef up this number to 8.4 million passengers (+13.4%).

In October 2022, the airline completed the process of redomiciliation, when all its aircraft were removed from the Aruba island jurisdiction and put under the jurisdiction of Ireland, which uses EASA standards. The company’s top management said that the adaption of European jurisdiction is going to raise its safety standards.

In its annual report, the company also said that it is expecting its low-cost FlyArystan division to transport many more passengers in 2023 than it did last year, although it would require a significant increase in its fleet.

In 2022, Air Astana’s reported a 55% increase in its passenger traffic (two million people) over 2021, mainly due to the rebounding of air travel or opening new routes. Last year, the airline supported flights on 41 domestic routes and 47 international destinations.

Currently, the Air Astana fleet includes 19 A320s, 16 A321s, three Boeing 767-300s and five Embraer 190LRs, aircraft run by FlyArystan included. This year, Air Astana is receiving seven additional aircraft, while over the period from 2025 to 2026, it must obtain three long-range Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Thanks to these new aircraft, the airline will be able to operate intercontinental flights, including flights to New York. In May 2023, Peter Foster, CEO of Air Astana told the cabinet of Kazakhstan that the airline’s fleet will include 64 aircraft by 2028.

By December 2025, Fly Arystan must be separated from Air Astana as an independent company, as the country’s government wants to see more competition in the sphere of civil aviation. However, the Civil Aviation Committee and Anti-Monopoly Agency suggest speeding up the process of FlyArystan’s separation from Air Astana and doing so this year.

Air Astana was meant to go public back in 2011, but its listing has yet to be done. In January 2023, Foster told President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev that the company would go public in 2024.