The Air Astana Group is one of the most progressive airline groups within the Central Asian region, consisting of Air Astana and its low-cost division, FlyArystan. With a positive start to this year, the Air Astana Group is looking to expand further with its latest developmental plans for growth in several aspects of its operations.
Peter Foster, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Air Astana Group, said:
"Air Astana has rapidly recovered despite an unprecedented series of operational challenges this year, with passenger traffic up 9% and seat capacity up marginally between January and July compared to the same period last year."
A growing route network
Expansions began when the Air Astana Group resumed flight services to destinations including London and Istanbul, alongside the launch of new flight services to Greece. In the following months, the airline group is looking to increase its flight frequencies to destinations including Dubai, New Delhi, and Phuket.
Flight services to the Thai capital, Bangkok, are also expected to be resumed soon after a two-year hiatus, a strong indication that the Air Astana Group is going full-speed ahead in restoring its Asian route network. However, a growing network will require additional aircraft for increased capacity, which is why the airline group is looking further to enhance its fleet within the next three years.
A renewing aircraft fleet
With a fleet of 38 aircraft, the Air Astana Group has undergone fleet renewals since the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and is continuing to take new aircraft deliveries. The airline group is committed to expanding its fleet to 59 aircraft by 2025, and the remainder of this year will see Air Astana take delivery of two more Airbus A321LR aircraft, bringing the total to 10. Regarding the fleet of FlyArystan, the low-cost carrier will add three more Airbus A320neo aircraft, bringing the total to four.
There will also be an additional 24 aircraft added by the airline group by mid-2025, enabling the Air Astana Group to become the region's most advanced airline group. Foster continued by saying:
"Given the strong expectation of continued growth in both international and domestic markets in the future, it is now timely for the Group to be significantly expanding the fleet and investing in new pilot training and maintenance facilities to achieve long-term goals.”
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A new training center
Adding so many new aircraft will require new pilots to fill the flight decks, and the Air Astana Group recognizes this need to develop capabilities in training and maintenance. The airline group's flight crew training capability will be significantly expanded with the opening of a new center costing $10 million in Nur-Sultan later this year. The training center will also be equipped with a first-in-the-country full flight simulator, which will improve pilot training efficiency and help alleviate the need for expensive training outside Kazakhstan. It is slated to save up to $18 million over the next 10 years.
The Air Astana Group is also planning to expand its in-house maintenance capability at regional bases shortly. These two developments will allow the airline group to maintain its status-quo in remaining the regional leader in crew training and engineering services, making the Air Astana Group quite the leader in these operational aspects.