Kazakhstan national carrier Air Astana will resume summer season flights to a series of popular lifestyle destinations.
The airline is set to revisit Greece (Heraklion on the island of Crete), Turkey (Bodrum), Montenegro (Podgorica) and Georgia (Batumi) in early June.
Summer flight scheduling
Flights to Heraklion and Podgorica will be operated using Airbus A321 Long Range; flights to Batumi will be operated using Airbus A320.
Flights from Almaty to Heraklion starting on 1 June will be operated four times a week with a flight time of 6h50m outbound and 5h50m inbound. Return airfares start at US$677 in Economy class and US$1603 in Business class.
Flights from Almaty to Bodrum starting on 2nd June will be operated three times a week with a flight time of 6h outbound and 5h30 inbound. Return airfares start at US$531 in Economy class and US$1438 in Business class.
Flights from Almaty to Podgorica starting on 3rd June with be operated three times a week, followed by the resumption of flights from Astana to Podgorica on 7th June, with the same weekly frequency.
Outbound flight time from Almaty is 6h55m and 5h55 inbound, whilst flight time from Astana is 6h25m outbound and 5h35m inbound. Return airfares from both Almaty and Astana start at US$616 in Economy class and US$1807 in Business class.
[monsterinsights_popular_posts_inline]
Flights from Almaty to Batumi starting on 6th June will be operated five times a week, with a flight time of 4h50m outbound and 3h50m inbound. Return airfares start at US$326 in Economy class and US$696 in Business class.
About Air Astana
Air Astana is the flag carrier of Kazakhstan and operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 60 destinations in Asia, Europe and Africa. The airline was founded in 2001 and is based in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Air Astana has a modern fleet of over 30 aircraft, including Airbus A320 family, Boeing 757, and Embraer E190-E2 aircraft.
From 2016, it took on its first A320neo and in 2021 it acquired its first A321neo LR variant and E190-E2. This fleet upgrade allowed the airline to bid farewell to its older A320ceos, 757s and E190s.
The airline has won numerous awards for its high levels of service and safety, including the Skytrax 4-star airline rating and the Airline of the Year award at the CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence.
Weathering the storm
Earlier this year, Air Astana reported its performance results for 2022, announcing that it was the best performing year in the carrier’s 20-year history.
Added to this, the Kazakhstan carrier’s subsidiary airline FlyArystan met with similar success in 2022, reporting growth of 366% since its inaugural year of 2019
Commenting on the results in February this year, the President and CEO of the Air Astana Group, Peter Foster said: “The group significantly exceeded expectations despite political unrest in Kazakhstan in January and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February.”
CEO Foster projected a stronger year again for 2023, although he balanced this against comments that headwinds would still occur as the airline group moved through the New Year.
This cautiously optimistic sentiment seems to be reflected in the reports of many airlines as they move into the second quarter the year. Globally, economic factors have been a prime driver of this cautious approach.
For European carriers like Air Astana, geopolitical events like the Russian war in Ukraine have further weighed into the equation.
As the airline moves into the summer peak season, hopefully it has weathered the worst of the storm and there are fairer winds ahead.
