ASTANA – As Kazakhstan pushes to become a regional aviation hub, Airbus is deepening its presence across multiple sectors, from passenger aircraft to military transport and space technology. Roman Blachshishin, head of Airbus in Kazakhstan. Photo credit: The Astana Times Speaking with The Astana Times on the sidelines of the Central Asia Aviation Summit in the capital last week, Roman Blachshishin, head of Airbus in Kazakhstan, said the country has become a strategic market for the European manufacturer.
Airbus boasts a robust presence in Kazakhstan. According to the company’s data, in commercial aviation alone, around 60 Airbus aircraft are in service, operated primarily by Air Astana and its low-cost carrier FlyArystan. The group’s recent agreement for additional A320neo family jets would add to an existing backlog of 25 aircraft.
Roman Blachshishin and Assel Satubaldina during a conversation. Photo credit: The Astana Times In defense and space, Kazakhstan operates 13 Airbus aircraft, including one A400M and 12 C295 aircraft, alongside two satellites currently in orbit. Airbus Helicopters, meanwhile, has roughly 60 aircraft in service across the country.
In commercial aviation, Airbus aircraft continue to gain ground, underscored by recent orders from Air Astana and broader fleet growth in the country. Airbus has also built a long-term partnership in the helicopter sector, including a joint venture with Kazakhstan Engineering established to support Kazakhstan’s efforts to improve emergency medical services.
“What we offered was not just the helicopter, but to develop the helicopter ecosystem. That’s why the joint venture was created to support maintenance and training needs, and it is now here in Astana,” Blachshishin said. A similar model has been applied in space technology.
Airbus helped establish a satellite joint venture in the capital, providing training to local specialists. “It was created in order to provide Kazakhstan with knowledge and skills. Moreover, Airbus used to be selected as a partner to develop the so-called local space infrastructure.
Here we speak about the satellite assembly integration test center,” Blachshishin said. “Right now, Ghalam, our joint venture [with Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary], is actually developing on its own a new satellite program of Kazakhstan, which is called KazEOSat-MR. It is a medium-resolution Earth observation satellite.
They are going to assemble and test them in this new facility,” he said.