From May 12, Air Astana will commence twice-weekly flights from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to London Heathrow.Flight KC901, to be operated by an Airbus A321LR, will depart Almaty on Thursday and Saturday. An Air Astana flight from the nation's capital, Nur-Sultan, will connect with the London service.

The A321LR will prove its worth on the London route

According to Planespotters.net data, Air Astana has 26 aircraft in its fleet. It has five Airbus A320neo, two A321-200, eleven A321neo, and five Embraer E190-E2 narrowbodies. It also has three Boeing B767-300 aircraft.

The airline says it will use the Airbus A321LR variant (of which it has eight) on the London route. The Airbus A321LR is a long-range version of the A321neo, with increased maximum take-off weight and associated design modifications.

Air Astana's are configured in a two-class layout, with 16 business class flat-bed seats and 150 economy seats. The airline uses the A321LR on routes to Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Dubai, Istanbul, and Beijing.

The A321LR will depart Almaty International Airport (ALA) at 10:45 and arrive at Aktau International Airport (SCO) at 13:05. After a one-hour stopover, it will depart for London Heathrow Airport (LHR), arriving at 16:05.

The aircraft will have a two-hour turnaround, departing Heathrow at 18:05. It will stopover in Aktau and arrive in Almaty at 05:10 the next day,

Aktau is a city in western Kazakhstan, located on the eastern shore of the Capsian Sea. It is a major seaport and hub for oil companies and a popular tourist destination.

In the Soviet era, it was named Shevchenko in honor of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, who spent seven years there in political exile.

After Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991, the former name of Aktau was restored. The airport was previously known as Shevchenko-Central Airport, hence the International Air Transport Association (IATA) code of SCO.

Going the long way round - for now

Air Astana KC921
The new Air Astana route to London will likely follow a similar flight path as this one from Nur-Sultan to Frankfurt. Data: Flightradar24.com

Due to the war in Ukraine, Air Astana is flying a longer, circuitous route to skirt the troubled areas. Flighradar24.com data shows the path of Air Astana flight KC921 from Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) taking the longer route. Unless something dramatic happens in Ukraine, KC901 to London will take a similar route.

Air Astana also announced on April 25 that it will launch flights from Almaty to Bodrum in southwestern Turkey from May 27. Services will operate on Tuesday and Thursday using Airbus A321 aircraft. The 6:20 hour direct flight will depart Almaty at 08:30 and arrive at Milas-Bodrum Airport (BJV) at 11:50.

Air Astana has weathered the pandemic remarkably well, recording profits in 2019 and 2021. It lost $94 million in 2020, but the combined profits in 2019 and 2021 of $66.1 million helped mitigate the loss.

Its budget carrier, FlyArystan is gaining traction and carried 3.1 million passengers in 2021, almost half of the combined group total of 6.6 million passengers. FlyArystan has nine Airbus A320 aircraft, including one A320neo.

It has routes to Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, UAE, and Uzbekistan, as well as domestic routes in Kazakhstan.

Air Astana is using the Airbus A321LR the way Airbus envisioned it would be, and no doubt the lie-flat seats will be sought after on this longer flight.

How comfortable is the A321LR for routes like this?

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