Air Astana flies into Dubai for new route

Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s winning flag-carrier, has bolstered its presence in the Middle East with the recent inauguration of direct daily flights to Almaty International Airport from Dubai International Airport.

The route is served by Airbus A320 aircraft in a two class layout – 16 business class and 132 economy seats with lead in economy class.

Almaty is complemented by Air Astana’s four times weekly services from the capital Astana to Abu Dhabi which have been operating since 2010.

Peter Foster, president and chief executive of Air Astana was in Dubai today to formally mark the commencement of the route and highlighted: “This is the right time to recommence our services to Almaty.

“The Middle East economy is much stronger.

“Dubai International is now the second biggest airport in the world in terms of passenger numbers, (achieving a 15 per cent growth in 2013 to 65.8 million); there is a strong appetite for travel to new destinations and the positivity around the UAE for the city that will host Expo 2020 is clear to see.

“Importantly, with our new Visa Waiver Programme in place now for UAE travellers, we anticipate that Almaty will become an increasingly popular destination.”

Thanks to the newly announced Kazakhstan Visa Waiver Programme visitors from ten countries, including nationals of the UAE, can now easily enter Kazakhstan without any prior notification.

The arrangement makes it even easier for business and leisure travellers to fly with the airline, which also offers an online visa application facility for Kazakhstan tourists.

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and a major commercial, cultural and financial centre within Central Asia.

Located in the mountainous area of southern Kazakhstan with the beautifully rugged, snow-capped mountains, right at the city’s doorstep, Almaty offers UAE-based visitors a relatively mild climate with pleasantly warm summers and moderately cold winters.