ALMATY/JULY 15 2021 (The Bulletin) — — Air Astana, the biggest airline in the region, said that it had returned to profit in the first six months of 2021 after recording a coronavirus pandemic-linked loss in 2020.

The airline, which is 51% owned by Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund and 49% owned by Britain’s BAE Systems, now includes FlyArystan, its low-budget brand.

Commenting on the results, Air Astana CEO Peter Foster said that strong demand on domestic routes had gone some way to making up for a continued drop in international travel.

“Strong market growth and a preference for air travel over long rail journeys have transformed Kazakhstan into the world’s fastest growing domestic market, with 31% passenger growth over 2019, undoubtedly stimulated by FlyArystan’s ultra-low fares,” he said in a statement.

Like other airlines in the region, Air Astana had shifted its focus over the past few years to promoting itself as a link between Europe and Asia. The coronavirus has undermined this strategy and Air Astana said that although some tourist routes to the Maldives, the Red Sea, Montenegro, Dubai, Turkey, Georgia and Sri Lanka were popular and high yield, international capacity was still 45% below 2019 levels.

Central Asia is also facing a third wave of coronavirus infections which is forcing countries to lockdown and, possibly to close borders. This, Mr Foster said, would hurt Air Astana.

“Covid case numbers are again moving in the wrong direction in Central Asia and many of the countries to where we are flying. Whether the recovery will be sustainable will come down to a race between Covid variants and vaccine take-up,” he said.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021