ALMATY – Kazakhstan plans to launch direct flights from Astana to Tokyo by the end of 2026 and to New York in 2027 as part of a broader push to transform the country into a major regional aviation and transit hub, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said during a government meeting on May 19 focused on the development and digitalization of the aviation sector.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held a government meeting on May 19 focused on the development and digitalization of the aviation sector. Photo credit: PM’s press service. Direct flights between Kazakhstan and Japan were initially expected to be launched in March this year, but the timeline was later revised.
According to officials, the Astana–Tokyo route is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2026. The announcement came as Kazakhstan’s aviation industry continues to expand rapidly. Over the first four months of 2026, Kazakh airlines transported more than 4 million passengers, while airports maintained stable domestic traffic despite reductions in some international routes.
“New international routes, especially to the European Union and the United States, must be opened faster and with competitive ticket prices,” Bektenov said, instructing the Ministry of Transport and Air Astana to launch direct flights from Astana to Tokyo and New York and later expand connections to European capitals including London, Paris, Rome and Vienna.
Kazakhstan among world’s top 20 aviation safety systems Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev said Kazakhstan has fully established the institutional framework necessary for civil aviation development and now ranks among the world’s top 20 countries in aviation oversight according to ICAO assessments.
According to him, Kazakh airlines carried 15 million passengers in 2025, while the country’s airports served 32 million passengers and handled 173,000 tons of cargo. To further improve safety oversight, Kazakhstan has established a new Aviation Accident Investigation Center and attracted leading international experts to the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan.
Together with ICAO, authorities are also preparing a long-term aviation development master plan through 2050, expected to be adopted later this year. In September, Kazakhstan is expected to receive a visit from experts from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (FAA IASA) program as part of efforts to secure FAA Category 1 status, a requirement for direct flights to the U.S.
Michael Daniel, head of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan, said the country aims to obtain the status by November 2026. “These measures will help Kazakhstan maintain an effective system of state control and supervision of flight safety,” he said.