Air Astana eyes greater EX-YU presence
The national carrier of Kazakhstan, Air Astana, is considering increasing its footprint in former Yugoslav markets following the successful launch of its seasonal flights to Podgorica. Originally planned to run twice per week from both Nur-Sultan and Almaty, the airline has added an additional weekly rotation from each city. “At this stage we are planning flights until the end of the summer season, but our planning window is very short these days. If we look at the example of Antalya where last year for the first time we operated year-round flights, which we have never done before, we can’t rule it out for Podgorica. We need to see how the season goes and evaluate later in the season. Certainly, it’s not off the table at this stage”, Richard Ledger, Air Astana’s Vice President for Marketing and Sales, said. Montenegro has introduced a visa exemption for Kazakh citizens, enabling visa free entry.
The Kazakh Ambassador to Serbia, Gabit Syzdybekov, has said there is interest from the airline to introduce flights to Belgrade. “In order to strengthen economic cooperation, first of all, we need to open nonstop flights between Nur-Sultan and Belgrade”, Mr Syzdybekov said. In 2016, Air Serbia’s Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the time, Siniša Mali, noted the carrier was considering launching flights between Belgrade and Almaty. However, the route never materialised. The two countries have already signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the aviation sector. Kazakhstan has designated Air Astana as its operating carrier for flights to Serbia, while Serbia itself selected its own flag carrier. Serbian citizens do not require a visa to enter Kazakhstan. Furthermore, Serbia is one of only six European countries that does not require entry visas for Kazakhstani passport holders.
The nation’s Ambassador to Croatia, Tolezhan Tursunuly, has said there is growing demand for travel between Kazakhstan and Croatia, which has been temporarily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Tursunuly noted that the opening of the Croatian embassy in Nur-Sultan in 2019 has enabled quick visa processing for Kazakh citizens in order to visit Croatia, which would be further improved with the introduction of nonstop flights. On the other hand, Kazakhstan has enabled visa-free entry for Croatian citizens.
Based on OAG data, during the pre-pandemic 2019, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia were the three largest former Yugoslav markets from Kazakhstan. Over 6.000 passengers flew indirectly between either Nursultan or Almaty to Belgrade, followed by over 3.000 to Croatia and over 2.500 to Ljubljana.
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