Air Astana, the national airline of Kazakhstan, has just officially revealed plans to fly to the United States. While there are still some hurdles to overcome, this is a cool development, and I hope we see this service become a reality.
The airline claims that it plans to commence flights between the two countries in 2027, once Kazakhstan has received an IASA Category 1 rating by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is a prerequisite for operating these kinds of flights.
There’s no reason the airline shouldn’t get permission to launch this kind of service, so I imagine this will get approval. The only real hurdle is a Category 1 rating, which shouldn’t be too hard to secure, in order to enable nonstop flights to the United States.
Interestingly, just weeks ago, an American was appointed to lead up the JSC Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan. The person chosen has 40 years of civil aviation experience, much of which was spent at the FAA. It’s believed that he was also chosen in anticipation of trying to secure a Category 1 FAA rating, enabling these flights to the United States.
Currently, Air Astana’s wide body fleet consists exclusively of Boeing 767s (among the newest in the world), though the airline will soon start taking delivery of Boeing 787s, so presumably these would be used for the service.
Which United States route is Air Astana most likely to fly?
Air Astana uses a two hub strategy, operating long haul flights from both Astana (the capital city) and Almaty (the most populous city). It’s funny, because if you try to book a routing on Air Astana between two other countries, you’ll sometimes be presented with a two-stop routing that takes you through both hubs.
Air Astana is a well run airline, and Kazakstan seems serious about wanting this service and putting in the work to get a Category 1 rating, so I suspect we’ll see this happen. I wouldn’t necessarily count on the 2027 timeframe, though, but who knows.
What do you make of Air Astana launching US flights?