On December 19, at the government meeting in Astana, Transport Minister Marat Karabayev announced that Kazakhstan plans to launch seventeen new international direct flight routes in 2024-2025, QazMonitor reports.
So far, the Ministry has disclosed direct flights to Hong Kong, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Vienna, Prague, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Vienna, with others yet to be announced.
In the coming 2024-2025, flights to Mumbai, Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, and New York will be launched. This year, six foreign airlines have been issued permits to fly to Kazakhstan. Additionally, amendments were made to the Open Sky policy, and [Kazakhstan] removed all restrictions on the use of the Fifth Freedom of The Air.
Currently, the republic maintains flights to 110 destinations in 28 countries, amounting to 567 flights per week. Over the past two years, 32 new international flights were either launched or resumed, including routes to Milan, Tel Aviv, and Hangzhou.
Furthermore, Karabayev noted that starting March 14, 2024, the Malaysian multinational low-cost carrier, AirAsia, will begin operating flights on the Almaty–Kuala Lumpur route, with plans to utilize the Fifth Freedom of The Air for flights to Jeddah. According to the minister, this will increase competition in the domestic market and improve ticket availability.