Head of Airbus in Kazakhstan Roman Blachshishin gave an exclusive interview to Qazinform News Agency, speaking about the current fleet, key areas of cooperation and future development plans. — How do you assess the current Airbus fleet in Kazakhstan and its growth potential?
— 2026 is an anniversary year, marking 20 years since the first A320 entered service in Kazakhstan. Currently, the fleet of Airbus aircraft in the country exceeds 60. And recently, one of the country’s leading airlines took delivery of its 60th aircraft. The airline has also recently announced an additional order for 25 aircraft, highlighting the market’s continued growth potential.
— Which areas of cooperation between Airbus and Kazakhstan are the most important? — I would say that starting from 2010, we moved to an active phase of cooperation. Those years were marked by the creation of two joint ventures. One is Airbus Helicopters Kazakhstan Engineering, focused on helicopters.
The other is GHALAM, which is specialized in satellite design and development. — Are there plans to expand partnerships with Kazakh airlines? — Currently, we cooperate actively with a leading airline in Kazakhstan, which is our main aircraft customer. The carrier has developed its own MRO center and now performs all scheduled inspections in-house, including 12-year checks.
It has also established a training center and recently received its second A320 full- flight simulator. We continue to support our partners in Kazakhstan by providing training for their personnel. We aim to further strengthen this cooperation and remain open to expanding partnerships with other airlines in the market.
— What prospects do you see for localization in Kazakhstan?