Kazakhstan plans to expand its international route network to 160, naming Europe, China, India, the U.S., Turkiye and Russia as priority destinations, Qazinform News Agency reports, quoting Kazakh Vice Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev on the sidelines of Aviation Security Week in Astana.
The necessary infrastructure, including airports, runways and an expanded aircraft fleet, is needed to increase the number of destinations served from Kazakhstan to 160. At the first stage, Kazakhstan plans to expand air links with China to 30 cities and with India to 10 cities.
He emphasized Kazakhstan plans to increase flights to India since it is a huge market located relatively close to Kazakhstan and one that is growing very dynamically. The country also plans to increase the number of flights to Türkiye and Russia. In Europe, new routes will be introduced gradually, with several new services expected to launch each year.
Kazakhstan is also continuing preparations for launching direct flights to the United States. The timeline has been pushed back due to delays in the delivery of Air Astana’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner.