Traffic through Kazakhstan’s airports grew by 13 per cent last year

there are 20 operational international and regional airports in Kazakhstan and, from November 1, 2019, Kazakhstan introduced an open-skies regime for international airlines at 11 of them (Almaty International Airport)

Kazakhstan’s airports handled 17 million passengers in 2019, according to reports from the country’s ministry for industry and infrastructure development. The result is a 12.6 per cent improvement on the 15.1 million passengers served in 2018.

“The traffic growth is attributable to the launch of new routes, both domestic and international, as well as lower fares, improved transfer connections and infrastructure development,” the ministry explains. Apart from that, state subsidies of domestic flights certainly contributed to population mobility.

Last year, 14 domestic routes were eligible for subsidies. These were services operating from Almaty to Kokchetau, Petropavlovsk, Ucharal, Urdzhar and Balkhash; from Nur-Sultan to Petropavlovsk, Taldy-Kurgan, Ucharal, Urdzhar and Balkhash; from Aktau to Kokchetau; from Karagandy to Kyzyl-Orda and Ust-Kamenogorsk; and from Petropavlovsk to Chimkent – with one international route, from Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana), to Tokyo.

Today there are 20 operational international and regional airports in Kazakhstan and, from November 1, 2019, Kazakhstan introduced an open-skies regime for international airlines at 11 of them, at Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Chimkent, Aktau, Karaganda, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Pavlodar, Kokchetau, Taraz, Petropavlovsk and Semey. The new aero-political regime is initially valid for a trial period of three years and offers no restrictions on the number of fights. As part of the regime, international airlines may apply for fifth-freedom traffic rights on routes not currently served by Kazakh carriers.