Astana International Airport
Astana International Airport - is an international airport serving Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. It's the 2nd busiest airport in Kazakhstan and 13th along former Soviet countries in terms of passenger traffic. Astana Airport is located approximately 17 kilometers (10 miles) away from downtown Astana. In 2014, the airport handled 2,960,000 passengers. The present terminal was opened in 2005 and has 6 jet-bridges. The terminal serves both domestic and international flights. The following nonstop international destinations are served from Astana as of October 2015:
Asia: Bishkek, Tashkent, Urumqi, Beijing, Seoul, Abu-Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Bangkok (begins only from 15 December 2015), Ulaanbaatar (begins only from June 2016).
Europe (including Russian Federation): Moscow (Sheremetyevo), St. Petersburg, London (Heathrow), Vienna, Paris (Charles De Gaulle), Frankfurt, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Istanbul, Kiev, Baku, Minsk.
IATA/ICAO code: TSE/UACC
The new terminal
The situation at Astana Airport in terms of terminal building is fair too easier than at Almaty Airport. The present terminal which was built in 2005, is a little bit larger than Almaty Airport's terminal which was built in 2004, and the traffic at Astana is approximately 25%-35% less than at Almaty Airport. In 2015, the airport's terminal building should meet its normal present capacity, 3 million passengers annually, while Almaty's airport had already met its capacity more than 3 years ago. Moreover, there is a new terminal under construction nearby the present terminal. After the new terminal will be put on operation, in March 2017 (expected), the total capacity of the airport is to increase up to 7 million passengers annually. The new terminal is expected to serve only international flights. In my own opinion, the new terminal is under construction only because Astana will hold Expo-2017, not because of the deficit of space at the current terminal. It is less likely that Astana's Airport would have opened a new terminal before 2020, if Astana wasn't chosen to held the Expo-2017.
Air Astana
Air Astana - is a national flag carrier of Kazakhstan. It's main hubs are Almaty Airport and Astana Airport. Secondary hub is Atyrau Airport. It operates more than 40 domestic and international routes. It has 30 aircraft in their fleet, such as Airbus A319/320/321, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, and Embraer 190. The airline has 10 aircraft on order. Among them, there are 5 Airbus A321neo which are planned to arrive after 2018 and substitute the old Boeing 757s, 2 Airbus A320neo which should be delivered to the carrier after 2016, and 3 Boeing 787s which are to arrive in 2017 and 2019. Dreamliners are planned to fly for the super-longhaul flights such as nonstop from Astana to New York, or Sydney.
The airline was founded in 2001, but the first flight was operated on 15 may 2002 (Almaty - Astana flight). Air Astana received for three times the name of the best airline in Central Asia & India rated by Skytrax. Air Astana also has been called a 4-star airline. Air Astana was ruled by the CEO Peter Foster since the October 2005.
About Astana
About Kazakhstan
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