Kazakhstan's Air Astana is looking at expansion within Asia using its fleet of long-range Airbus A321LR aircraft.
The airline received the first A321LR in September and has been using the plane on its Moscow route since October 2, making it the first carrier in the Commonwealth of Independent States to deploy the jet.
It has six more on the way from US lessor Aercap and will use the Pratt & Whitney-powered jets, dubbed “Super Arrows”, to replace its Boeing 757s on routes such as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.
It revealed this week that new destinations under consideration include Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
READ: Air New Zealand to axe LA-London and fly Auckland-New York non-stop.
The A321LR has the longest legs of the A320neo family with the flexibility to fly long-range operations of up to 4,000nm (7,400km) and to tap into new long-haul markets not previously accessible to single-aisle aircraft.
Air Astana has not skimped when it comes to outfitting the planes, which sport 16 business class seats and 150 in economy.
The lie-flat business class seats are equipped with individual 16-inch screens and four of 16 seats offering additional personal space.
In the economy class, there and slimline Recaro seats with individual 10-inch screens fed by a Zodiac (RAVE) in-flight entertainment system.
Air Astana chief executive Peter Foster said earlier this month the arrival of the A321LR’s was a major step in the modernization of the airline’s fleet.
“The specification of the Business Class flat beds, Economy Class slim seats and other cabin amenities will ensure that passengers experience the very highest standards of comfort and service on routes to Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Moscow, Dubai, Istanbul and Beijing,” he said.
Air Astana first launched services to Asia in 2002 with flights between Almaty and Beijing and now operates a network of 60 international and domestic routes.
The carrier has a fleet of 38 aircraft comprising a mixture of Boeing, Airbus and Embraer aircraft.
It is a joint venture between the National Welfare Fund of Kazakhstan "Samruk-Kazyna" and BAE Systems with respective shareholdings of 51 percent and 49 percent.
It is also launching Kazakhstan’s first low-cost airline, Fly Arystan, which recently started selling tickets for its first international route, due to start December 13 from Nur-Sultan to Moscow.
The LCC will get its fourth plane in December and plans to have 10 180-seat A320s by the end of 2020.
Have questions or want to share your thoughts?
