Air Astana has resumed flying between Kazakhstan and Montenegro today, 1st June. Montenegro is a rare European country that Air Astana flies to. Most interestingly, it flies there on two routes with plenty of frequencies. A visa waiver is behind the success of these routes.

Air Astana returns to Montenegro

Air Astana is back in Montenegro. One of its Airbus A321LR aircraft landed in the country’s capital, Podgorica (TGD), today, Wednesday 1st June.

The aircraft arrived from Almaty (ALA) on flight KC635. This route will operate as follows:

• Flight KC635 leaves Almaty (ALA) at 07:30 and arrives in Podgorica (TGD) at 10:25
• Flight KC636 leaves Podgorica at 11:25 and arrives in ALA at 21:15

The block time for this route is just under seven hours, and it will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

All flights will be operated by Air Astana’s Airbus A321LR aircraft.

The route was already operational last year when Air Astana operated it with a mixture of A321neo and A320neo aircraft from 10th June until 13th October 2021.

Air Astana has two routes to Montenegro

Air Astana actually has another route to Montenegro, namely between Podgorica (TGD) and Nur-Sultan (NQZ). This route is also resuming this year, after a successful period of summer operations in 2021.

Those flights will operate as follows:

• Flight KC637 leaves Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ) at 08:40 to arrive in Podgorica Airport (TGD) at 10:55
• Flight KC638 leaves Podgorica Airport (TGD) at 11:55 to arrive in Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ) at 21:20

These flights are also summer seasonal, and they will also all be operated by Air Astana’s Airbus A321LR aircraft. They will run on Thursdays and Sundays.

The return fares for both routes start from US$594 in Economy and US$1774 in Business.

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Air Astana is eyeing more leisure routes

Air Astana’s two routes to Montenegro are an unusual aspect of its network. The airline flies to European mega-hubs of Amsterdam (AMS), Paris (CDG), Frankfurt (FRA), London (LHR), and Istanbul (IST).

This year, it will also fly to Heraklion (HER). Previously, heavy slot restrictions at this Greek airport meant that Air Astana could not launch flights there. However, this all changed with the sanctions imposed on Russia this year.

Speaking exclusively to Simple Flying, Air Astana's CEO said:

"We couldn't get slots at Heraklion because they were all taken by the Russian carriers. Well, of course, now there are no Russian carriers [flying there], so you know we're moving to get slots in Heraklion as quickly as possible."

As a tourism-orientated country, Montenegro has a visa waiver in place for Kazakhstan’s citizens, and passengers entering the country no longer need to show a vaccination certificate or take a COVID-19 test.

The current visa arrangement allows for 30 days of visa-free stays, and this is a significant factor aiding the success of this route.

What do you think of Air Astana flying two routes to Montenegro? Let us know what you think of this story in the comments below.