Air Astana
From Kazakhstan Encyclopedia
Air Astana (Template:Lang-kk) 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 hub, Astana International 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.
Contents
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 2003 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, which ranked it 20th in its 2015 survey of global airline financial ratings, with a score of BBB-.Template:Citation needed
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".[3]
Until 8 December 2016, Air Astana was the only Kazakhstani airline allowed to fly to the European Union.
Air Astana is the "Official Air Carrier of EXPO-2017"[4] and the official carrier and general partner of the 2017 Winter Universiade, which will take place from 29 January to 8 February 2017 in Almaty.
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), Tbilisi (Georgia) both from Almaty and Astana. Services to Dushanbe (Tajikistan) are currently performed from Almaty and will be extended from Astana starting IATA Summer 2016 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, Dubai, 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 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, Paris 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.
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, with the exception of Air Astana, 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), until the ban was lifted on 8 December 2016. Air Astana was exempted from the ban "...taking into account oral and written presentations made...." particularly the registration of its aircraft with the Department of Civil Aviation of Aruba, a Netherlands dependent territory, and its operations safety management programme as presented to the ASC. However, it was included on the ASC's Annex B, restricting its EU operations to the level of frequencies and fleet operated at the time of imposition of the ban in July 2009. The ASC removed the fleet restriction in November 2012 for the Boeing and Airbus fleet based on the airline's fleet renewal programme but retained the restriction on Embraer aircraft. On 10 April 2014 the ASC lifted the frequency restrictions based on the airline's safety performance, including Safety Audit of Foreign Airlines (SAFA) monitoring programme results, as well as continuing transparent communications. This allowed the airline to start planning for new destinations in Europe and increases to its daily service to Frankfurt from Astana, its 6 weekly service to Amsterdam from Atyrau, and its 4 weekly services to London. The airline subsequently commenced service between Astana and Paris in April 2015. The restrictions on the Embraer aircraft, which were the last to be banned from the EU, were removed in December 2015, and all Air Astana aircraft are now allowed to enter EU airspace.[5]
Destinations
Template:Main Air Astana's 64 routes 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 (28 August 2012) and Ho Chi Minh City (January 2013). In addition to its existing Almaty-Seoul services, Air Astana launched direct services from Astana to Seoul in June 2015. Air Astana operates daily services from Astana to Frankfurt, three weekly services to Heathrow and three weekly services to Paris (launched 29 March 2015). The European services are connected with Air Astana’s extensive domestic services as well as regional services in South Russia, Central Asia and China. The airline launched a non-stop flight from Almaty to Tehran, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran (30 June 2016).
Air Astana has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[6] Template:Div col
- Air France
- Air India
- Asiana Airlines
- Bangkok Airways
- Etihad Airways
- Hong Kong Airlines
- KLM
- Lufthansa[7]
- Turkish Airlines
Fleet
Current fleet
The Air Astana fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of June 2016):[8][9]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Seats | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C</abbr> | <abbr title="Economy">Y</abbr> | Total | |||||
| Airbus A319-100 | 1 | — | 12 | 114 | 126 | ||
| Airbus A320-200 | 8 | — | 16 | 132 | 148 | ||
| Airbus A320neo | 1 | 2 | 16 | 132 | 148 | deliveries since late 2016[10] | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 4 | — | 28 | 151 | 179 | ||
| Airbus A321neo | — | 8 | 28 | 151 | 179 | to be delivered from 2017[10] | |
| Boeing 757–200 | 5 | — | 16 | 150 | 166 | to be replaced by Airbus A321neo from 2018[10] | |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 3 | — | 31 | 193 | 223 | ||
| Boeing 787-8 | — | 3 | <abbr title="To Be Announced"> |
to be delivered from 2019[11] | |||
| Embraer 190 | 9 | — | 9 | 88 | 97 | ||
| Total | 30 | 14 | |||||
Fleet development
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 757s were leased from ILFC company and MacQuarie Aviation Inc. In mid-2008 the first purchase order for 6 Airbus A320 aircraft was made. The aircraft were delivered at the end of 2012. In 2011 the company introduced 3 new Embraer 190 regional aircraft, two of them were 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 1 December 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-767s in 2013 and a third in June 2014. At the Paris airshow in June 2015 Air Astana announced that it would be the launch customer for the A321 NEO Long Range, 4 of which will be acquired from Air Lease Corp Inc of the USA in 2019, in addition to 3 short range NEOs to be acquired from 2016.
Air Astana operates a fleet of 31 aircraft. 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 36 aircraft by 2017 and up to 43 by 2020. It also plans to commence flights to USA upon arrival of the Dreamliners.Template:Citation needed
Fleet history
Air Astana’s fleet history:[12]
| Aircraft | Put into operation | Out of operation | Number of out of service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319 | 2008 | — | |
| Airbus A320 | 2006 | — | 4 |
| Airbus A320neo | 2016 | — | |
| 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 |
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]
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 a row of three Economy Class seats, turn-down service, Business Class amenity kits and KCTV, along with various perks 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.[14]
Nomad Club
The "Nomad" frequent flyer club consists of Gold, Silver and Standard membership tiers, and has reciprocal agreements with Lufthansa's 「Miles & More」and Asiana Airlines' "Asiana Club" programmes.
Shanyrak Lounge
Air Astana has recently opened its lounge "The Shanyrak", the only airline lounge at the Astana International Airport.
Personnel
Air Astana numbers more than 4,700 people. Despite the fact that the company directly hires staff for international offices, most of the employees are citizens of Kazakhstan. It employs over 500 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:[15]
- 2006 – 1.5 mln
- 2007 – 2.1 mln
- 2008 – 2.3 mln
- 2009 – 2.2 mln
- 2010 – 2.6 mln
- 2011 – 3 mln
- 2012 – 3.3 mln
- 2013 – 3.7 mln
- 2014 – 3.8 mln
- 2015 – 3.9 mln
Awards
- Skytrax 4 Star Airline, 2010 to present.[16]
- Skytrax World Airline Awards, Best Airline Central Asia and India, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.[17]
- Skytrax World Airline Awards, Best Staff Service Central Asia and India, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.[18]
- Air Transport World Industry Awards, Global Market Leadership Award, 2015.[19]
- UK New Year’s Honours List 2015, Peter Foster appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to British aviation in Kazakhstan.[20]
References
External links
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