Air Astana

Air Astana
IATA
KC		 ICAO
KZR		 Callsign
ASTANALINE
Founded 29 August 2001
Commenced operations 15 May 2002
Hubs
Frequent-flyer program Nomad Club
Fleet size 30 (and 3 ordered)
Destinations 64 (international and domestic)
Company slogan From the Heart of Eurasia
Parent company Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk Kazyna (51%)
Headquarters Almaty, Kazakhstan
Key people
  • Chairman: Nurzhan Baidauletov
  • President and CEO: Peter Foster
  • SVP Planning and Commercial: Alma Aliguzhinova
  • SVP Government, Regulatory Affairs and Security: Yerbol Ospanov
  • SVP Marketing and Sales: Ibrahim Canliel
  • SVP Corporate Safety and Quality Assurance: Gerhard Coetzee
  • SVP Engineering: John Wainwright
  • SVP Operations: Anthony Regan
Website www.airastana.com

Air Astana (Kazakh: Эйр Астана) is the principal airline and the flag carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan, based in Almaty, Kazakhstan.[1] It operates scheduled domestic and international services on 64 routes from its main hub, Almaty International Airport, and from its secondary hubs, Astana International Airport and Atyrau Airport. It is a joint venture between Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna (51%), and BAE Systems PLC (49%).[2] It was incorporated in October 2001 and started commercial flights on 15 May 2002.

Air Astana won the Airline Market Leadership award for 2015 at the 41st Annual Air Transport World Awards. At the 2014 World Airline Awards held at the Farnborough International Airshow Air Astana was named the Best Airline in Central Asia and India for the third consecutive time. Air Astana also received the award for Best Staff Service in Central Asia and India for the second consecutive time.[3] Since 2012, Air Astana has been rated as a 4 Star carrier by Skytrax and remains the only airline in Eastern Europe and CIS to achieve this.

History

Air Astana was described by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in January 2012 as having “performed better in its first decade than just about any other start-up carrier” (CAPA, Airline Analysis, 9 January 2012). Yet its origins represent one of the more intriguing and unlikely stories to have emerged from the airline industry in recent times. Originally conceived as purely domestic airline, BAE Systems agreed in mid-2001 to participate in the proposed start-up at the request of Kazakhstan's head of state, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in order to facilitate an air radar contract it was then negotiating with the Government of Kazakhstan. Sir Richard Evans, BAE Systems’ chairman at the time, was instrumental in and key to the deal. However, the radar contract never materialized, and subsequent senior management changes and strategic reviews at BAE Systems led to the closure of its offices in Kazakhstan. Additionally, notwithstanding the support of Nazarbayev and a number of close advisors, the start-up, initially seen as a foreign entity, was confronted with immediate and vocal opposition from many elements of Kazakhstan's media and political establishment.

2002 – 2005

In spite of these gloomy auguries the airline took off on the charge. Under its first operational president, former British Airways executive Lloyd Paxton (there had been a brace of short-lived pre-operational incumbents), it leased its first 3 Boeing 737s from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and commenced Commercial operations on 15 May 2002. In late 2002 Fokker 50s were leased from Aircraft Finance Trading BV (AFT) and 3 Boeing 757s from Pegasus Leasing Corp. It declared a net profit in 2003, its first full year of operations. Upon the bankruptcy of the previous flag carrier Air Kazakhstan in February 2004, it moved quickly to expand from its domestic network to key international routes to Dubai, Istanbul, Moscow and Beijing, followed by Frankfurt and London.

2005 – to the present day

Early growth pains and disagreements over fleet plans and hub strategy led to tensions between the shareholders and a management change in autumn 2005. Peter Foster, a former executive of Cathay Pacific Airways who had led the rehabilitation team at Philippine Airlines in 1999 before a spell as CEO at Royal Brunei Airlines, was appointed as the airline's president on 1 October 2005. Long-term development plans and management structures were established that have remained largely unchanged since then. The airline has been consistently profitable and was listed in the top 20 most profitable airlines in terms of net margin in the world for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012, according to Airline Business and Air Finance Journal.

In an article on BAE Systems' offset programmes (10/10/13) the Financial Times stated, ”BAE’s 49 per cent stake in Kazakhstan’s Air Astana became one of the company’s highest-yielding investments”.[4]

Operations

Activity in Russia

In September 2002 the airline launched flights between Astana and Moscow with a frequency of 3 times a week and daily flights between Almaty and Moscow performed by Boeing 737-700. In 2014, the number of weekly services on the Astana - Moscow route was increased up to 9 flights a week, and Almaty - Moscow flights up to 14. The airline operates 54 weekly services on 11 routes to Russia: Almaty - Moscow performed by Airbus A321 and Boeing 767, Astana - Moscow, Almaty - St.Petersburg performed by Airbus A320 and Astana - Novosibirsk, Astana - Yekaterinburg, Astana - Omsk, Astana - St.Petersburg, Almaty - Kazan, and Almaty - Samara performed by Embraer 190.

Air Astana is represented in Russian Federation in Moscow city on Bolshoi Gnezdnikovskii pereulok 1, building 2 (Tverskaya metro station). There is also a ticket office at the Sheremetyevo airport (Terminal E).

Activity in the rest of C.I.S.

Air Astana has built on its geographical strength by expanding its network to cover all key cities of the region with short haul flights. In Central Asia and Caucasus Air Astana offers services to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Baku, (Azerbaijan) both from Almaty and Astana. Services to Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Tbilisi (Georgia) are currently performed from Almaty and will be extended from Astana starting IATA Summer 2015 navigation season. Air Astana closed its last gap in the region in 2013 by launching services to Kiev (Ukraine) from Almaty with 3 flights per week. Since the launch of services, Air Astana has rapidly become a key provider for air transport to Central Asia and Far Eastern destinations from Ukraine and v.v. The extensive regional network provides for access to all major cities in the region with Air Astana’s medium and long haul flights from Beijing, Seoul, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Delhi, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Frankfurt, London and others.

Activity in China

While many people are aware that Kazakhstan is located in the territory of the ex-USSR, it is only a few that are aware of its close vicinity with China. Kazakhstan neighbors China through its South East border with a flight time of less than one and a half hours to Ürümqi and under five hours to Beijing. The close vicinity of Air Astana’s hubs allows for competitive regional operations to China. The fact that not a single European or Middle Eastern carrier is operating to Ürümqi, provides a strong competitive edge for Air Astana. The Western hub of China is served both from Almaty and Astana with 11 services per week, offering connectivity to its entire CIS network as well as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Delhi, Istanbul, Frankfurt and others. The daily services to Beijing connect with the entire CIS network as well as European network such as Frankfurt, Istanbul and particularly London.

Fleet

From 2006 to 2008 Boeing 737 were gradually replaced by leased Airbus 320 and two the very first widebody Boeing 767-300ER's were leased from ILFC. In 2008 and 2011 two Boeing 757 were leased from ILFC company and MacQuarie Aviation Inc. In mid-2008 there were made the first purchase order for 6 Airbus A320 aircraft, which were delivered at the end of 2012. In 2011 the company introduced 3 new Embraer 190 regional aircraft, two of them are purchased in leasing from Jetscape Inc, and 1 from Aircraft Lease Corporation (ALC). In 2012 the airline received 3 Embraer 190 aircraft, one of which became the company's property. The purchased Embraer 190 aircraft joined the fleet in 2012 and 2013. On December 1, 2012 the airline retired the Fokker 50 fleet, replacing them all by Embraer 190's. In February 2012 the airline concluded the largest in the country's aviation history contract on supply of Boeing 767-300ER in late 2013 and three Boeing 787-8 in 2017.

In 2013 Air Astana received its 7th Embraer 190 and 2 more Airbus A320 with sharklets. The airline has taken delivery of two new Boeing-767's in 2013 and a third one in June 2014.

Air Astana operates a fleet of 30 aircraft, the youngest fleet in the region and one of the youngest in Europe. As a result of the fleet restructuring and replacing all its Airbus A320 and Boeing 767 aircraft with brand new ones, Air Astana's average fleet age is only 6 years as of 2015. The company plans to expand its fleet to 34 aircraft by 2016 and up to 43 by 2020. And it is also planned to make flights to USA when the Dreamliners arrive.

An Air Astana Boeing 757 taking off from Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan. (2008)
Air Astana Boeing 757-200 arrives at London Heathrow Airport (2015)
An Air Astana Boeing 767-300ER at Amsterdam Airport. (2009)
An Air Astana Airbus A320 at Atyrau Airport, Kazakhstan. (2011)

The Air Astana fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of April 2014):[5]

Air Astana Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Seats Directions Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A319-100 1 — 12 114 126 Kazakhstan
Airbus A320-200 8 — 16 132 148 Kazakhstan, CIS, Asia
Airbus A321-200 4 — 28 151 179 Kazakhstan, CIS, Asia
Boeing 757-200 5 — 16 150 166 Kazakhstan, Europe, Asia Equipped with winglets[6]

To offer Economy Sleeper Class starting Feb 2015 [7]

Boeing 767-300ER 3 — [6][8] 30 193 223 Kazakhstan (Almaty - Astana flights), Europe, Asia
Boeing 787-8 — 3
TBA
 Kazakhstan (Almaty-Astana flights), Europe, Asia, USA, Africa Will be available in 2017, 2019
Embraer 190 9 —[9] 9 88 97 Kazakhstan, CIS, Asia
Total 30 3

Fleet history

Air Astana’s fleet history:[10]

Aircraft Put into operation Out of operation Number of out of service
Airbus A319 2008 —
Airbus A320 2006 — 4
Airbus A321 2007 —
Boeing 737-700 2002 2007 1
Boeing 737-800 2002 2007 2
Boeing 757-200 2003 —
Boeing 767-300ER 2007 — 2
Embraer 190 2011 —
Fokker 50 2004 2012 6

Destinations

Air Astana's 64 destinations include most major cities in Kazakhstan and an increasing number of neighboring Central Asian and Russian cities. The latter is the result of a decision to implement what its managers refer to as an "extended home market strategy", to leverage its reputation for high standards of service and air safety compliance in the region's growing air transport markets. Since 2009 it has launched services to Baku, Tashkent, Ürümqi, Tbilisi, Dushanbe, Bishkek, Novosibirsk, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Saint Petersburg, and from the middle of 2012 – Kazan and Omsk. Almaty – Kiev, and Astana – Kiev were launched in spring 2013.

Its long haul growth has been towards south and east Asia, with flights to Delhi, Seoul (operated in code share with Asiana Airlines), Beijing, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong (August 28, 2012) and Ho Chi Minh City (January 2013). Air Astana operates daily services from Astana to Frankfurt and three weekly services to Heathrow. On 29 March 2015, Air Astana launched three weekly services from Astana to Paris. The European services are connected with Air Astana’s extensive domestic services as well as regional services in South Russia, Central Asia and China.

Codeshare agreements

Air Astana has Codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

ICAO and the EU

The airline's international route development was heavily influenced by regulatory factors from 2009 until April 2014. In April 2009, an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), found the Kazakhstan Civil Aviation Committee (CAC) to be non-compliant in key areas of regulatory oversight. This resulted in a blanket ban of all Kazakhstan-registered airlines from flying to, from or within the European Union by the EU's Air Safety Committee (ASC). Air Astana was the sole exception, exempted from the ban on account of its unique (for its region) structure and regulatory framework, including its European EASA 145 aircraft engineering license, the registration of its aircraft with the Department of Civil Aviation of Aruba, a Netherlands dependent territory, and its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registration. However, it was until April 2014 included on the ASC's Annex B, restricting its EU operations to the level of frequencies operated at the time of imposition of the ban in July 2009. Since then no follow-up ICAO audit of the CAC has taken place, resulting in subsequent meetings of the ASC electing to retain the status quo until recently. The ASC decision on April 10, 2014 to lift the frequency restrictions on Air Astana allows the airline to start planning for new destinations in Europe and increases on its daily service to Frankfurt from Astana, its 6 weekly service to Amsterdam from Atyrau, and its thrice services to London.

Service and branding

During the ATW's 41st Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards ceremony in Washington, DC on 25 February 2015 Air Astana was awarded the Airline Market Leader of the Year.[13] At the 2014 World Airline Awards Air Astana was named the Best Airline in Central Asia and India for the third time running. At the same ceremony Air Astana received the award for Best Staff Service in Central Asia and India for the second time. Moreover, following an audit conducted by Skytrax in May 2012, the airline became the first carrier from Russia /CIS /Eastern Europe to be awarded the prestigious 4-Star rating in the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2012 and remains the only carrier in the region achieving this status.

Class types

Air Astana operates a 2 class service, Business and Economy, on all aircraft, and Economy Sleeper on its Boeing 757 fleet. The Boeing 767 and 757 are equipped with the individual in-flight entertainment system supplied by RAVE in both cabins. On other aircraft it offers hand-held personal entertainment systems (「KCTV」) in the business class of all flights longer than 3 hours. Hot meals and alcoholic beverages are offered on all flights in Business, Economy, and Economy Sleeper.

New products

In Feb 2015, Air Astana started offering a new class type: the Economy Sleeper. Passengers of the Economy Sleeper Class get to enjoy a row of three Economy Class seats, turn-down service, Business Class amenity kits and KCTV, along with various privileges at the airport, including access to Business Class lounges. The new product is currently featured exclusively on the Boeing 757-200 on routes from Astana to London, Frankfurt and Paris, and from Almaty to Hong Kong. [7]

Nomad Club

The "Nomad" frequent flyer club consists of Gold, Silver and Standard membership tiers, and has a reciprocal agreement with Lufthansa's 「Miles & More」 program. A new uniform for cabin and ground staff, designed by local Kazakh designers, were introduced in the beginning of 2013.

Shanyrak Lounge

Air Astana has recently opened its exclusive lounge "The Shanyrak", the only airline lounge at the Astana International Airport.

Personnel

Air Astana numbers more than 4,000 people. Despite the fact that the company directly hires staff for international offices, most of the employees are citizens of Kazakhstan. It employs 320 pilots, about a third of whom are non-Kazakhstan nationals recruited principally in Europe. In 2012 company has introduced a general management training program at Cranfield University, England. The airline’s cabin crew consists of over 1,100 flight attendants with the citizenship of Kazakhstan, most of them are women. Its management is a combination of Kazakhstan and foreign nationals.

Activity indicators

Number of passengers transported:

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Head Office." Air Astana. Retrieved on 21 December 2010. "Registered office 4A, Zakarpatskaya Street, Almaty, 050039, Kazakhstan"
  2. ↑ Hofmann, Kurt (11 April 2014). "Air Astana eyes Paris and Prague services after EU lifts safety ban". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Air Astana repeats success as it is named the Best Airline in Central Asia and India award".
  4. ↑ "."Retrieved on 10 October 2013." Offset side deals spark calls for transparency "
  5. ↑ Air Astana Fleet
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Air Astana announces $1.3 billion 767–787 order, retrieved 10 February 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Air Astana Introduces Economy Sleeper": New Economic Business Class Concept". >talkairlines. >talkairlines. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Website, Boeing. "767 Model Summary". Boeing Company. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  9. ↑ Air Astana takes delivery of first Embraer 190, retrieved 10 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Fleet Air Astana
  11. ↑ "Etihad Signs Codeshare Deal with Air Astana". Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Turk Hava Yollari AO : Air Astana and Turkish Airlines sign a codeshare agreement". 4-traders.com. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Air Transport leaders celebrated at ATW Achievement Awards". Air Transport World. 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2015-03-02.

External links

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