PHOTOS: Air Astana launches Podgorica service

NEWS FLASH

Kazakhstan’s national carrier Air Astana inaugurated seasonal flights from Almaty and Nur-Sultan to Podgorica last week with a welcome ceremony being held at the airport this Thursday. It marks the first time the airline has operated scheduled services to the former Yugoslavia. Air Astana will maintain operations to Montenegro’s capital until mid-September with its Airbus A321LR aircraft. The initially planned two weekly frequency from each city will now be upped to three per week as of June 25, with the airline offering a total of 31.540 seats between the two countries this summer. During its first week of operations it handled some 1.000 passengers. A group of Kazakh journalists, as well as tour operators are visiting Montenegro this week as part of a familiarisation trip.

Despite the new service, Montenegro is not Kazakhstan’s largest market in the former Yugoslavia. For a full analysis of traffic flow between the central Asian nation and the former Yugoslav republics, subscribe to the EX-YU Aviation Premium Newsletter.