ALMATY – As Central Asian countries accelerate airport expansion to capture growing passenger and cargo flows between Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan is entering a new phase of competition. While Uzbekistan has launched construction of what is expected to become the region’s largest airport, Almaty is pursuing a different strategy: expanding capacity while investing in operational efficiency, cargo infrastructure, digitalization and international connectivity.
Photo credit: Kazakh Transport Ministry Click to see the map in full size. The map is designed by The Astana Times. The latest milestone in that transformation came as Qazaqstan Investment Corporation (QIC), a subsidiary of Baiterek National Investment Holding, completed its exit from the Almaty International Airport project through the sale of the Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund’s 15% stake to TAV Airports for $133 million.
While the transaction marks the end of one investment cycle, it also reflects how the airport has evolved from a modernization project into one of Kazakhstan’s key transport assets. From investment project to regional gateway QIC entered the project in 2021 through the Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund, contributing $30 million in equity financing as part of TAV Airports’ $415 million acquisition of Almaty International Airport.
During the investment period, the airport underwent its largest modernization in decades. A new 53,500-square-meter international passenger terminal, a VIP terminal and an engineering facilities building were commissioned, alongside a modern baggage handling system with four times the capacity of the previous facility.
The results have also been visible in passenger traffic. Annual passenger numbers more than doubled from 5.6 million in 2021 to 11.93 million by the end of 2025, while the city’s tourism services market reached 110.9 billion tenge. In the first half of 2026 alone, the airport served 5.76 million passengers, generating revenues of $257.9 million.
The next bottleneck is no longer the terminal The current phase of investment illustrates how airport development has shifted beyond terminal construction. Rather than simply expanding passenger halls, Almaty is investing heavily in operational infrastructure that determines how efficiently an airport functions.
One of the flagship projects is the Ground Handling Village, a 7,110-square-meter complex that will consolidate technical, maintenance, warehouse and administrative services into a single operational center. The facility is expected to improve coordination among ground handling teams, reduce aircraft turnaround times and provide modern maintenance facilities for specialized airport equipment.
Equally significant is the construction of a new four-kilometer parallel taxiway, extending to 5.2 kilometers with connecting taxiways. Today, one of Almaty’s runways serves both aircraft movements and taxiing operations, creating operational constraints as traffic grows.
Once completed, the dedicated taxiway will separate aircraft movements, shorten taxi times, increase runway availability and improve overall airport capacity. Winter operations are also being modernized through the construction of Central Asia’s first dedicated aircraft de-icing platform.
By moving de-icing operations away from aircraft stands and enabling treatment closer to the runway, the project is expected to reduce delays, improve winter operational reliability and enhance environmental sustainability through a specialized de-icing fluid collection and recycling system.