Air Astana Plans To Fly From Kazakhstan To United States: Great Success?

Air Astana, the national airline of Kazakhstan, has just officially revealed plans to fly to the United States. While there are still some hurdles to overcome, this is a cool development, and I hope we see this service become a reality.

Air Astana requests regulatory approval for US flights

Air Astana has just filed with the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), requesting authority to operate scheduled passenger flights between Kazakhstan and the United States.

The airline claims that it plans to commence flights between the two countries in 2027, once Kazakhstan has received an IASA Category 1 rating by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is a prerequisite for operating these kinds of flights.

There’s no reason the airline shouldn’t get permission to launch this kind of service, so I imagine this will get approval. The only real hurdle is a Category 1 rating, which shouldn’t be too hard to secure, in order to enable nonstop flights to the United States.

Interestingly, just weeks ago, an American was appointed to lead up the JSC Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan. The person chosen has 40 years of civil aviation experience, much of which was spent at the FAA. It’s believed that he was also chosen in anticipation of trying to secure a Category 1 FAA rating, enabling these flights to the United States.

Currently, Air Astana’s wide body fleet consists exclusively of Boeing 767s (among the newest in the world), though the airline will soon start taking delivery of Boeing 787s, so presumably these would be used for the service.

Which United States route is Air Astana most likely to fly?

Air Astana uses a two hub strategy, operating long haul flights from both Astana (the capital city) and Almaty (the most populous city). It’s funny, because if you try to book a routing on Air Astana between two other countries, you’ll sometimes be presented with a two-stop routing that takes you through both hubs.

So it’s hard to say which airport the airline would operate the flight out of. Would it be about government and business traffic out of Astana, or about the higher demand market of Almaty?

In the United States, I have to imagine that New York would be the most likely destination, just based on how most airlines approach this.

Air Astana is actually a really well run airline, and easily the best carrier in Central Asia. I’ve had pleasant flights on the airline, and really want to fly them again. Now, I can’t imagine this service would be terribly lucrative, at least in terms of direct profit. So many airlines try to add a long haul route to the US for prestige, only to hemorrhage money. But Kazakhstan is also trying to grow its economy and increase ties with the US, and I have to imagine that would be a motivation here.

Either way, I definitely want to fly Air Astana’s Dreamliner, and I’d love for it to be to or from the United States!

Bottom line

Air Astana has unveiled plans to launch nonstop flights between Kazakhstan and the United States, via a new regulatory filing. This isn’t terribly surprising, given that an American was recently hired by Kazakstan’s aviation regulator, in hopes of the country getting a Category 1 FAA rating.

Air Astana is a well run airline, and Kazakstan seems serious about wanting this service and putting in the work to get a Category 1 rating, so I suspect we’ll see this happen. I wouldn’t necessarily count on the 2027 timeframe, though, but who knows.

What do you make of Air Astana launching US flights?