Air Astana on course despite fuel, Europe woes
Kazakhstan’s Air Astana saw its first half 2012 revenues grow by 13% to USD394 million, matched by a similar increase in passenger numbers, although net profit declined to USD4.95 million.
Capacity grew by 11% with the addition of an additional Boeing 757-200 and three additional Embraer 190s.
The fleet size now stands at 26 aircraft after the retirement of three of its six Fokker 50s, with the remainder due for retirement by January 2013 and replacement by two additional Embraer 190s.
Planned new routes include Almaty to Hong Kong, Almaty to Ho Chi Minh City and Atyrau to Moscow.
Flights from Astana to Beijing will be added to its existing Almaty to Beijing services.
The airline will take delivery of four new Airbus A320s and two new A321s from November 2012 to May 2013, and recently placed an order for four new Boeing 767-300s and three Boeing 787-8s.
Peter Foster, president of Air Astana, said first half fuel price increases of more than 140% over the same period last year had been challenging but all markets, with the exception of Europe, continued to grow.
"In particular our extended home market strategy of developing routes to and from our near neighbours continues to gather pace. These markets are small but have terrific growth potential."
Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna (51%) and BAE Systems PLC (49%).
Ian Jarrett
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