8 November 2011
Kazakhstan’s
leading international carrier increases frequencies and adds new routes
Air Astana,
Kazakhstan’s
leading international carrier, continues to experience strong traffic growth on
its Asian network. As a result, the
airline is planning to boost frequencies on existing long haul scheduled
services from Almaty to Bangkok, Delhi and Kuala Lumpur from
December, as well as launch a new scheduled service to Hong
Kong in early 2012 and initiate
a winter season only service to Ho Chi Minch City,
Vietnam in late 2012. All long-haul services will be operated by Boeing 757 /
767 aircraft, with the Business
class cabin featuring lie-flat beds and KCTV personal in-flight entertainment
system.
Services from Almaty to Bangkok will increase to
five frequencies a week, Almaty to Delhi will
increase to four times a week and Almaty to Kuala Lumpur will increase to three times a
week.
A twice weekly service from Almaty to Hong Kong will be launched in February
2012 and a winter season only service from Almaty to Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam will
commence in October 2012.
“Expanding political, business and
tourism links between Kazakhstan
and Asia continue to drive strong traffic growth on services to the region, with increased feed from Central
Asia into the expanding Almaty hub also making a significant
contribution.” said Peter Foster,
President of Air Astana. “Immediate frequency increases on existing services
and the launch of new services to Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh
City in 2012, reflect
the fact that Asia is playing an increasingly
important part in the strategic long-term development of Air Astana.”
Air Astana currently operates a fleet of 25 aircraft comprising two Boeing
767-300, four Boeing 757-200, ten Airbus A321/A320/A319, three Embraer E190 and
six Fokker 50. A fifth Boeing 757 will join the fleet in December 2011.
The airline serves 22 domestic and 27 international destinations.