Air Astana

The Air Astana Management Team

Peter Foster – President of Air Astana

Peter Foster entered the airline industry immediately after graduating from Cambridge University in 1982, as a management trainee of John Swire and Sons (HK) Ltd, the owners of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. From 1982-1999 he served in a variety of management and senior management positions with CPA in Hong Kong, Asia, Australia and Europe, and underwent business management training at INSEAD, France.
Mr Foster left Cathay Pacific Airways in 1999 to head up the rehabilitation team of Philippine Airlines Inc. He subsequently served as Chief Executive Officer of Royal Brunei Airlines from 2002 to 2005 prior to his appointment as President of Air Astana.

Alma Aliguzhinova – Senior Vice President Planning and Commercial

Alma is among the first employees to join Air Astana at its early stage of formation in 2001 before the commencement of commercial operations.
Alma initially joined the company as Corporate Development Manager and progressively has been promoted to Corporate Development Director and then Vice President Planning and now Senior Vice President Planning and Commercial.
Alma is a Bolashak Alumni graduated with an MBA degree from East Caroline University, USA.

Yerbol Ospanov – Senior Vice President Government, Regulatory Affairs and Security

Yerbol has over 30 years of experience in the aviation industry.
He has had various jobs in different airlines in Kazakhstan. In his early career he worked as a co-pilot, but then advanced and has worked for various firms as a pilot instructor of many different types of aircraft including the Tu-154, Boeing 747, Boeing 757 and Boeing 767.
As well as his position as Senior Vice President in Air Astana, Yerbol serves as a Captain to the Head of the State flights, a position which he has held for many years.

Gerhard Coetzee – Senior Vice President Corporate Safety and Quality Assurance

Gerhard started his career as an Air Force navigator and is a qualified Accident Investigator with qualifications in (Aviation) Safety Programme management from various institutions including University of Southern California. He holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce and an Honours degree in Transport Economics from University of South Africa. He has been actively involved in flight safety for the past 15 years including as Staff Officer Flight Safety in the South-African Air Force and Managing Consultant with BAE Systems.

John Wainwright – Senior Vice President Engineering Group

John has over 34 years of aircraft maintenance experience, both in Base and Line maintenance. He was educated in the United Kingdom and trained at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Bedford. After spending almost 20 years working for Britannia Airways, he moved to South East Asia, working for Royal Brunei Airlines in Brunei, Viet Nam and Nepal. When he left Brunei to immigrate to Australia, he held the position of Head of Maintenance. John joined Air Astana in 2006 as the Maintenance Manager. He is a holder of an EASA B1 and C category Maintenance Engineers License and is married with three children.

Graeme Ogilvie – Senior Vice President Operations

Graeme started his aviation career in the Royal Air Force as a pilot and spent the following 15 years flying mainly the C130 Hercules. During his RAF time Graeme managed an exchange tour with the USAF as an instructor examiner followed by three years in charge of flying for the UK Special Forces.

The next 27 years were in Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific both as a pilot and manager. During this time Graeme obtained his MBA at Hong Kong University, worked in many management positions including as an in-house consultant. In his last 10 years in Cathay Pacific, Graeme set up Air Hong Kong, a joint venture company with DHL whilst holding the position of Director of Operations and Engineering. Graeme is married with three children and joined Air Astana in March 2011.

Galina Umarova – Vice President Procurement

Galina has experience in the airline industry and prior to joining Air Astana was Director on Finance at Astana International Airport JSC.
Galina graduated from Aktobe State University of K. Zhubanov and she holds a Degree of Master of Public Administration (KIMEP).

Ibrahim Canliel – Vice President Marketing and Sales

Ibrahim has been with Air Astana since 2003 and prior to that he has worked 9 years in tourism with major tour operators in Turkey from where he moved to aviation with KLM; shortly in the Middle East and thereafter Almaty in charge of the Commercial Organization in Kazakhstan and neighboring countries.
Ibrahim received his MBA degree from Bosphorus University (Istanbul) and his undergraduate in Economics from Marmara University. From November 2005 Ibrahim was also a Board Member of the European Business Association of Kazakhstan and left this duty in Nov 2008.

Bella Tormysheva – Vice President Public Relations

Bella has over 10 years experience in Public Relations, Information and Cultural activity. Before joining Air Astana, she worked in the Delegation of the European Commission covering the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan. She holds a Master Degree in International Relations and is currently completing a PhD in Political Sciences. Bella has attended numerous trainings abroad and enjoys working in a multinational and international environment.

Yevgeniya Nee – Vice President HR and Administration

Yevgeniya is a graduate of Karaganda State University and holds Diplomas in English/French languages and Legal.
She joined Air Astana in October 2002 as Executive Assistant to President of Air Astana. Prior to Air Astana, Yevgeniya worked for four years with Intercontinental Hotel.

Aidar Kashkarbayev – Vice President Legal Affairs

Aidar has over 10 years experience in jurisprudence. He started his law practice in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1993.
Prior to joining Air Astana Aidar has worked in law firm Denton Wilde Sapte, consulting company KPMG and worked as a manager of the legal department for Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. in Karachaganak oilfield, Western Kazakhstan.
Aidar graduated from Kazakh State National University and experienced study placement at Southern Illinois University, USA, under the Visiting scholar programme.

Chamindra Lenawa – Vice President IT and e-Commerce

He initially joined Air Astana as Manager IT Business Systems and then held the position of Director IT and eCommerce. He is an IT professional having management experience in three National Carriers. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. He holds certifications in different IT domains and is a professional in airline reservations, inventory, ticketing, departure control systems and business operations. He is a certified PMP (Project Management Professional, PMI - USA) and a Chartered Information Technology Professional of British Computer Society.

Richard Ledger – Director Sales Worldwide

Richard joined Air Astana in June 2006 as the Regional General Manager EU, USA & Canada, based in London, where he was primarily responsible for the creation of a sales network throughout the region. Prior to joining Air Astana, Richard worked in corporate sales for Singapore Airlines in London for five years before becoming Sales & Marketing Manager UK at Royal Brunei Airlines in Jan 2005. Richard started his travel industry career in 1993 after graduating from Lancaster University with a MA in Travel and Tourism, and from the University of London (UCL) with a BA (hons) in Geography. His first positions in the travel industry were as Tour Operations Manager for a tour operator specializing in packages to Thailand and India, before progressing to Wexas International as a ‘Round the World’ specialist. Richard is married with three children and was appointed Air Astana’s Director Sales Worldwide in February 2009.

Oliver Mathwich – Director Ground Services

Oliver is responsible for Air Astana's Airport Services. Oliver started his career in Germany and spent 17 years working in the aviation industry. He has held several senior positions for one of the leading airport ground handling companies in the world. Prior to joining Air Astana in 2005, Oliver worked as a Senior Consultant and Project Manager in many airline projects throughout Europe. Oliver received his MBA Aviation degree with distinction in 2011.

Aiman Tileubayeva – Director Network and Revenue Management

Aiman joined Air Astana in November 2003 as the Commercial Planning Manager, where she was responsible for the schedule and network planning. Prior to joining Air Astana, Aiman worked in Air Kazakhstan airline for five years. Aiman graduated from the Kazakh National University has PhD in Applied Mathematics.
Aiman was appointed Air Astana’s Director Network and Revenue Management in February 2009.

David Wilmot – Director Operational Training and Standards

David's experience of more than 34 years, was gained whilst operating for different major airlines. The positions held previously were Chief Pilot, Fleet Captain, Instructor Pilot and Check Airman, mainly on the B747 and B767 aircraft. His extensive flight crew training of 26 years extends from ab-initio cadet training to type rating training (TRI/TRE) on the Boeing 747 and B757/767. As a captain, he has flown a wide variety of Boeing airplanes, namely the B707, B727, B737, B747 B757 and B767. His flying experience encompasses most parts of the globe. The theatre of operations includes Asia, Africa, Europe, Russia and North and South America. Prior to joining Air Astana, David was a Simulator Instructor for a major aircraft manufacturer's training division, where he was dedicated to a well known Japanese Airline.

Sandra Cullen – Director In-Flight Service Delivery

Sandra is accountable for cabin crew on-board service delivery performance and standards, recruitment, training & development. She has extensive airline experience within the Operations, Human Resources and Learning & Development fields and has worked with several major airlines in the UK, Europe, USA and Far and Middle East before joining Air Astana in 2011. After over 20 years with British Airways, Sandra moved into consultancy and held positions with several blue chip international organizations, focusing on in particular – service delivery, strategic leadership and people management. Over the last five years prior to joining Air Astana, Sandra has held senior management positions with two leading airlines in the Middle East. She has a wide breadth of general knowledge within the aviation industry, enjoys working within a culturally diverse environment and holds a BA (honours) degree in Psychology.

Timur Yakupov - Engineering Director

Timur is an aeronautical engineer with more than 20 years of experience. Having a classic aviation education in the former Soviet Union, Timur began his career as a mechanic for aerobatic aircraft. He served in the army as an infantry weapons specialist in Military Transport Aviation. He continued his career in Kazakhstan in the role of a technician on TU-154, and further mastered the maintenance of the main types of passenger and cargo aircraft of the former Soviet Union. Timur works in Air Astana from the first day, and started as a shift supervisor. Timur is a holder of an engineering license and can serve more than 11 types of aircraft and their modifications. He is married with three daughters.

Mergali Alzhanov – Director Flight Operations

Mergali has extensive experience in the aviation industry. Educated in Aktobe top civil aviation flight school in 1980, Mergali began his career as a co-pilot on the Yak-40 in the Kokchetav aviation squadron, and in 1991 transferred to the Almaty squadron. After working at several airlines, Mergali joined Air Astana in 2004 as captain on the Boeing 757 aircraft.He is married with two daughters and a son.

Russel Ellis – Director Operations Control

Russel has more than 26 years of aviation experience and has held several senior management positions in airlines in South Africa and the Middle East before joining Air Astana in 2007. His early experience was in the military where he qualified as a Navigator and Instructor. He is responsible for the day-to-day operational control of the airline and the emergency response readiness.

Alima Zamanbekova – Chief Accountant

Alima joined the airline in mid 2003 as Chief Accountant. Prior to joining Air Astana, she held positions of Chief Accountant in the oil industry.
Alima graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages (English faculty) and from the Kazakh State Academy of Management while specializing in Accountancy and Audit. She is a Certified Accountant and a member of the Chamber of Professional Accountants.
Alima is married and has two children.

The Air Astana Management Team