Air Astana announced the resumption of a host of summer flights to top holiday destinations. It resumes summer season flights in early June to Heraklion, Crete, Bodrum, Podgorica in Montenegro and Batumi, Georgia. Flights to Heraklion, Bodrum and Podgorica will be flown on Airbus A321 jets; and flights to Batumi on Airbus A320 planes. Flights from Almaty to Heraklion operate four times a week starting on 1 June. Almaty - Bodrum service begins on 2 June three times a week. Flights to Podgorica start the next day and to Batumi on 6 June.

Kazakhstan flag carrier Air Astana is celebrating 20 years flying to Dubai Dubai was amongst Air Astana’s earliest international destinations after the airline launched in 2002. Initial services from Almaty to Dubai began in August 2002 with twice weekly flights and it followed with additional departures from Nur-Sultan in 2007. The number of passengers travelling on flights between Kazakhstan and Dubai has dramatically increased over the past 20 years, with less than 7,000 carried in 2002 and over 101,000 already carried during the first half of 2022. “The UAE offers a wide range of leisure attractions and business opportunities, with Dubai proving to be a very popular destination for Kazakhstan travelers over the past 20 years,” said Adel Dauletbek, Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, Air Astana. In the coming winter season, flight schedules to and from Dubai will be improved. Frequencies are scheduled to peak at 17 per week by the end of 2022. Kazakhstan has re-established a visa-free regime for citizens of 57 countries, including the UAE, for up to 30 days to enter-exit and stay. Passengers arriving to Kazakhstan from foreign countries are not required to provide a certificate of vaccination or a negative test result for Covid-19.

Kazakhstan based Air Astana Group recovered well from a loss-making, pandemic-hit by 2020 to repoort a profit after tax of USD36.1m in 2021. Total airline revenue increased by 92% year-on-year to US$756m. It carried a total of 6.6million passengers, an increase of 79% and the highest in its history. Its full-service arm Air Astana carried 3.5 million passengers whilst low-cost subsidiary FlyArystan carried 3.1 million passengers. Freight carriage grew by 27%. It ‘recovered from the effects of the global pandemic far quicker than expected,’ President and CEO Peter Foster says. Domestic traffic was strong and FlyArystan, in what is effectively its first full year of operation given that 2020 was partially a write-off, posted very strong growth and a small profit. “Regional international yields firmed, and new routes to tourist destinations exceeded all expectations,” Foster said. “2022 has thrown up new and early challenges. The troubles in Kazakhstan in early January were a V-shaped event for us however the conflict in Ukraine, a country in which we have had a strong presence since 2013, is posing multiple challenges.” “We pray that it may be resolved soon not only for business reasons but more importantly, so that people in affected countries to which we fly can return to their normal lives”.

Air Astana successfully operated repatriation flights for Kazakhstan citizens in Ukraine on 28 February and 1 March 2022. Flights were operated using Airbus family aircraft between Katowice in southern Poland and Almaty/Nur-Sultan, with the first flight carrying 175 passengers and the second one carrying 120 passengers. Passengers were flown free of charge under an agreement with the Government of Kazakhstan. Peter Foster, Air Astana President and CEO, who went to Kyiv on the last international flight into the country on 23 February with Alexander Neboga, a senior colleague, to organise repatriation flights,  said: “The situation on the Ukrainian-Poland border is absolutely critical. I have never seen anything like this before, and hopefully will never again.” There are thousands and thousands of people trying to cross the border. It would have been more challenging had there not been support of the Ambassador and the Embassy of Kazakhstan. We will continue with repatriation flights until we get every Kazakhstan citizen out.” Air Astana had suspended its regular flights to Kyiv until at least 7 March due to emergency closure of Ukraine airspace. Passengers are offered free refunds and re-booking until 31 March on tickets issued from 22 February. Information about repatriation flights from Kyiv is regularly updated at airastana.com

Air Astana will resume flights from Almaty to New Delhi, the capital of India, on 16th December 2021, with three services a week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft.   Departure from Almaty on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays is scheduled for 07:50 and arrival in New Delhi at 11:10, with return flight at 12:20 and arrival in Almaty at 16:40. All times local, with a flight time of 3 hours and 50 minutes in each direction.   Return fare start from US$544 in economy and US$1050 in business class, including airport, fuel and other charges.   Air Astana offers convenient connections for passengers travelling from Kyiv, Bishkek, Istanbul, Tbilisi and Baku.   Travel Information / Entry Requirements All passengers travelling to New Delhi including children need to fill in online form at www.newdelhiairport.in. Passengers over 5 years of age additionally need to upload results of PCR test with a negative result obtained within 72 hours before arrival. Prior to boarding on departure and again after arrival, passengers will undergo a thermometric test procedure. In the case of any symptoms of coronavirus being detected, passengers will be sent to a medical facility.   Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated passengers are required to take a COVID-19 test on arrival and repeat it at the end of a seven-day home quarantine period. Fully vaccinated passengers are exempted from PCR test on arrival and from home quarantine.

Kazakhstan carrier Air Astana will launch scheduled services linking its Almaty hub and Sri Lankan capital Colombo beginning on 3 December 2021. The twice weekly service will be operated by Airbus A321LR aircraft on Tuesdays and Fridays. Departure from Almaty will be at 05:30, arriving in Colombo at 11:30, with the return flight from Colombo at 12:30 and arriving back in Almaty at 19:40, all times local. Return airfares in economy class start at US$512, including airport, fuel and other charges. "Air Astana successfully operated charter flights between Almaty and Sri Lanka between February and April 2021, with almost 3,000 passengers carried on the route," said Air Astana Sales Director, Islam Sekerbekov. "Given the proven popularity of the earlier service, we are very pleased to be returning to the market with regular scheduled flights." Sri Lanka accepts all vaccines. Unvaccinated passengers, including children above two years old, are required to provide a negative PCR test certificate obtained no more than 72 hours prior to departure. Air Astana customers can find full entry requirements at: https://airastana.com/kaz/en-us/Book-Manage/Book/Special-Offers/Flights-to-Sri-Lanka  

Air Astana is pleased to announce the resumption of direct flights from Almaty to Male (Maldives) from 9 October 2021. Flights will be operated four times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays on Airbus 321LR and Boeing 767.   Economy class fare in both directions starts from 289 500 KZT, and from 881 500 KZT in business class, including airport and other charges. Tickets are available on Air Astana website, its sales offices and agencies accredited by IATA.   All passengers, including those who have been fully vaccinated, require a negative PCR test certificate in English to enter the Republic of Maldives. Additionally it is required to fill in a Traveller Health Declaration 24 hrs prior to departure. Visa is issued free of charge upon arrival at the airport. For entering Kazakhstan, all passengers must have a negative PCR certificate, except those who have been fully vaccinated.   Air Astana has launched flights to the Maldives on December 5, 2020, and operated until May 24, 2021 before suspension due to government restrictions. According to the Ministry of Tourism of the Maldives, Kazakhstan was ranked fifth by a number of arrived tourists to Male between January and May 2021 after Russia, India, Germany and Ukraine.