(15 May 2022, 08:24 +07)
Air Astana today celebrates the 20th anniversary of
its first commercial flight from Almaty to Nur-Sultan.
The airline has since carried almost 60 million
passengers and more than 250,000 tons of cargo, with 600,000 flights operated and an average passenger load
factor of almost 70%.
Air Astana has greatly contributed to the
Kazakhstan economy by creating over 5,000 jobs, all of which were
maintained during the ongoing COVID19 pandemic. In addition, the
airline has generated over US$500 million in tax revenue for the
government over the past 20 years.
The group’s fleet has grown to 37 aircraft,
including Boeing 767, Airbus A320/A320neo/A321/A321neo/A321LR and
Embraer 190-E2 aircraft, with an average age of four years.
Air Astana A320neo
Since
its launch in 2019, FlyArystan, the group’s low-cost subsidiary,
now operates 10 Airbus A320 aircraft on 44
international and domestic routes.
Since 2009, a total of 259 cadets have completed
Air Astana’s Ab-initio pilot training program, with 60 becoming
Captains and 157 serving as First Officer.
“Air Astana’s 20th Anniversary is a truly
remarkable achievement, which I hold with great pride together
every one of our dedicated 5,000 employees. With the guiding
principles of resilience, determination and innovation, we have
all worked tirelessly to overcome every obstacle in order to
consistently deliver the very highest levels of safety, service
and efficiency to our dedicated customers for two decades,” said
Peter Foster, President and CEO of Air Astana. ”The past two years
of enduring the effects on travel of COVID have been particularly
challenging, but these principles helped ensure a very solid
financial performance…