Tag Archives: aviation

Hungary’s Wizz Air to fly budget flights to Kazakhstan

ALMATY, APRIL 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it would open a route from Budapest to Astana, making it the first European budget airline to fly to Kazakhstan.

The first flight will take off from Budapest on June 8, the Wizz Air website said, and the starting price of a one-way ticket will be 40 euros.

The accouchement of the new route, which has been the subject of negotiations since last year, was greeted with excitement by young Kazakhs who want easier access to Europe.

“I think it is a very good news because due to our geographical location it is not that easy to reach Europe and tickets are quite expensive, especially after devaluation (of the tenge in 2015),” said Sabina Serikova, 29, communication specialist. “And now, I think, every working person and even student can afford to go to Europe.”

In a statement, Wizz Air said it would fly twice a week to Astana. It also referenced Astana’s EXPO-2017 exhibition, also opening in June, as a reason to visit the Kazakh capital.

“Connecting the capitals of Hungary and Kazakhstan, we expect this service to significantly contribute to the development of economic and business relations between the two countries and we also believe that our low fares will attract a large number of visitors to both cities stimulating tourism and hospitality industries,” the statement quoted Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi.

Wizz Air, which sees itself as a pan-Central Europe airline, is fast establishing itself as the European airline that best serves the region. It already flies to Kutaisi and Baku.

By comparison, British Airways has cut all its routes to the region over the past few years although other European airlines, Lufthansa and KLM, have retained theirs.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Berdimukhamedov criticises Turkmenistan Airlines

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MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov criticised Turkmenistan Airlines for what he said was the sluggish pace of development of its domestic air routes. In 2015, Mr Berdymukhamedov had ordered the airline to improve its domestic routes.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Russia slaps ban on Tajik flights

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APRIL 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Russian air authorities have once again banned Tajikistan’s privately-owned Somon Air from flying to Russia, an apparent resumption of the row between the two countries earlier this year which cut the number of air-links. Air-links between Russia and Tajikistan are especially important for Tajikistan’s migrant work force which relies on jobs in Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Azerbaijan airline to connect regions with Moscow

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MARCH 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — AZALJet, the budget airline of Azerbaijan Airlines, said it had started direct flights from Ganja and Qabala to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. The routes are an important part of the transport network that connects migrant workers in Azerbaijan and the rest of the former Soviet Union, with jobs in Russia. Starting up the routes is a sign that people are starting to have more faith in the region’s economies. Like the rest of the South Caucasus/Central Asia region, Azerbaijan’s economy relies on remittance flows from Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Kazakh airline signs codeshare deal with Lufthansa

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MARCH 15 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air Astana, half owned by the Kazakh government and half owned by Britain’s BAE Systems, signed a codeshare agreement, effectively allowing the airlines to sell each other’s flights between Frankfurt and Astana or Almaty. The agreement is a boost for Air Astana. It already has code sharing agreements with a handful of high- profile airlines including KLM, Turkish, Etihad and Air France.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Turkmenistan Airline changes corporate structure

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MARCH 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s official press service said that the corporate structure of Turkmenistan Airlines had been changed to a open joint-stock company. Under the new structure, the government will own a 70% stake in the company, the aviation department within the ministry of transport will own 27% and Turkmenistan Airline will own 3%. It’s unclear why the corporate structure has been changed.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Georgian Airways to fly to London

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FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian Airways said that it would restart a direct flight to London Gatwick from Tbilisi. The announcement appears to be a reaction from Georgia Airways to news released earlier this year that Hungary’s Whizz Air would fly from Luton Airport, near London, to Kutaisi, Georgia’s second city. British Airways scrapped its direct flight to Tbilisi in 2013.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan cancel flight at last minute

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DUSHANBE, FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — After months of build- up and a successful dry-run, the start of a regular commercial flight between Dushanbe and Tashkent was cancelled at the last minute.

Both sides blamed the other for cancelling what would have been the first regular service between the Tajik and Uzbek capitals for 25 year and a tangible sign that relations between the two countries had started to improve after years of feuding.

Somon Air, Tajikistan’s main airline, was due to make the flight, a repeat of a one-off flight it made earlier this month. It said that Tashkent airport had contacted it and said that permission to make the flight had been withdrawn for security reasons. Tashkent airport denied this and said that the flight had been cancelled because Somon Air had failed to submit the correct paper- work in time.

Having tried to pin the blame on Tashkent airport for the flight failing to fly, Somon Air then admitted it had been at fault and promised to make the flight over the “next few days”.

Media later report that Somon Air had fired Alisher Rustamov, director of commercial operations, for failing to ensure that the flight took off.

Relations between Uzbekistan and its neighbours have improved markedly since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became president at the end of last year. His predecessor, Islam Karimov, was known to be cantankerous and relations with his neighbours had soured during his presidency. He died in September 2016 and his daughter, Gulnara, who had harboured ambitions to succeed him, was sidelined.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Passenger numbers are rising, says private Kazakh airline

FEB. 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — SCAT, a privately-owned airline based in Shymkent in south Kazakhstan, increased its passenger numbers to 1.269m in 2016 up from 1.229m in 2015, media reported. The slight increase in passenger numbers, though, may mask a drop in relative demand, in-line with the poor economic conditions, because SCAT has increased the number of flights and routes it flies. SCAT mainly flies domestic routes, although it is adding more foreign destinations. In 2013, a SCAT plane crashed near Almaty killing 21 passengers and crew.

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(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)

Azerbaijan budget airline to fly to Moscow

FEB. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — AZALJet the budget airline belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines, known as AZAL, will start flying to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport from Ganja and Gabala, two Azerbaijani regional towns, media reported, a move that may be aimed at migrant workers as much as businessmen or tourists. AZALjet was founded in March 2016 and links Baku mainly to capitals of former Soviet states but also to many of Turkey’s biggest cities.

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(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)