Kazakhstan's Air Astana to resume certain flights by end of May

By Trend

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana airlines company is looking to resume nearly 30 percent of its scheduled flights on internal routes by the end of May 2020, the company told Trend.

In order to prevent coronavirus spread in Kazakhstan, the number of flights was reduced by 438 flights per week on international destinations on 97 routes, which makes up 99 percent of all international flights implemented.

Additionally, all domestic flights have been cancelled and currently no regular air services operate in the country.

The company said that that it has entered the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Mar. 2020 following a successful 2019. Thus, the company net income in 2019 amounted to $30 million, the company’s revenue was $900 million, and the passenger traffic went up by 17 percent.

"The passenger traffic increased due to the establishment of company’s subsidiary – FlyArystan lowcoster, which started its operations in May 2018 and transported over 5 million people by the end of 2019," the company said.

CEO of Air Astana Peter Foster noted that current situation on the air transportation market is very difficult, and expressed assumption that many markets will recover only after many years.

"However, I am confident that the results of our effective, operational activities and successful financial performance will allow us to strengthen our position in the future in Kazakhstan and the region as a whole," Foster said.

Established in 2001, Air Astana company is one of the largest airline companies in Kazakhstan. Prior to emergency state, Air Astana operated a fleet of 34 aircrafts on over 60 domestic and international routes.

The first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020.

The total number of coronavirus cases confirmed in Kazakhstan since the virus was first confirmed in the country amounted to 5,689 cases. This includes 2,531 people who recovered from the coronavirus, and 34 patients who passed away.