ALMATY – Kazakhstan is preparing to introduce aerotaxis, biometric passenger identification and artificial intelligence-powered cargo systems as part of a digital transformation of the country’s aviation sector, officials said during a government meeting on May 19.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov instructed the Ministry of Transport to adopt legislation regulating urban air mobility, including aerotaxis and drones, by the end of June, saying Kazakhstan must prepare for the next generation of air transport technologies. “Global regulators such as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in Europe and Federal Aviation Administration in the United States have developed certification rules for commercial aerotaxi aircraft.
We must also be ready,” Bektenov said. Domestic companies have also begun purchasing test unmanned aerial vehicles for future aerotaxi operations and are building landing sites and operational centers. Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev said Kazakhstan is scaling up its digital passenger control infrastructure through the Q-Gate system, which reduces passenger processing time from three minutes to just 50 seconds.
The system now operates at 16 airport terminals in Astana and Almaty. This year, another 16 terminals will be added in Shymkent, Atyrau, Aktobe and Aktau. Authorities also plan to launch a pilot biometric boarding project on domestic flights between Astana and Shymkent.
According to Sauranbayev, digitalization efforts are intended to simplify procedures, reduce congestion and improve the overall passenger experience as air traffic continues to grow. Kazakhstan is also digitizing cargo aviation logistics through the international IATA e-Freight standard.
TransInfoTech CEO Malik Berdigaliyev said artificial intelligence tools will soon be integrated into cargo systems to automate processing of commercial documents, reducing manual data entry time from 30 minutes to just seconds. The e-Freight platform is connected to 17 airports and 56 airlines across Kazakhstan, allowing the Civil Aviation Committee, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan and border authorities to monitor cargo traffic in real time.
The system has also been integrated with the Ministry of Agriculture’s veterinary control platform, enabling domestic cargo transportation to shift to electronic air waybills. Authorities are now integrating the platform with Kazakhstan’s customs system KEDEN to create fully paperless international cargo processing.