Air Astana reports 10% increase in quarterly revenue

In Q1, Kazakhstan’s largest airline Air Astana, along with its low-cost subsidiary FlyArystan, reported a 10.4% year-on-year increase in consolidated revenue, reaching $292.4 million, according to the company’s financial statements.

EBITDAR (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization and Rent) rose 37.1% to $59.9 million, with the margin (EBITDAR-to-revenue ratio) increasing by four percentage points (p.p.) to 20.5%.

Available seat kilometers rose 13.5% to 4.7 billion, while revenue passenger kilometers (the number of transported passengers multiplied by the distance traveled by each passenger) increased by 13.9% to 3.8 billion. The total number of passengers carried increased by 7.1% to 2 million, with the average load factor rising by 0.3 p.p. to 81.5%.

At the same time, the company noted that the first quarter is traditionally the weakest in terms of financial and operational performance due to seasonal factors.

Peter Foster, the airline’s CEO, commenting on the report, stated that the company plans to launch 15 new destinations in 2025 (compared to 21 in 2024), with a regular flight to China’s Guangzhou already launched in Q1. In addition, the company’s fleet has expanded to 60 aircraft following the purchase of five new Airbus A320s.

As of early April, the largest shareholder of Air Astana was the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund, holding 41.05%. Another 21.77% was held by Citibank, acting as a nominee shareholder and issuer of depositary receipts traded on the Astana International Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. British company BAE Systems controlled 16.97%, while the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund held 6.52%. Prior to going public last year, the airline group officially registered FlyArystan as a separate entity.