KAZAKHSTAN’S flag carrier, Air Astana, will strengthen its Asia network by increasing flight frequencies between Astana and Bangkok, and by introducing Astana as a stopover destination.
Peter Foster, president, Air Astana said “seasonal, twice-weekly winter flights between Astana and Bangkok will become year round from September“ this year. Daily flights between Almaty and Bangkok remain unchanged.
From September, Astana will also serve as a stopover for services between Hong Kong to Almaty, so as to provide convenience to business travellers from Hong Kong heading to Astana.
Foster revealed future network expansion plans in Asia include new services to Western and Central China, Singapore and Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Air Astana’s newly introduced Stopover Paid by Carrier programme to stimulate return traffic between Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul via Almaty has seen four or five group bookings already, said Richard Ledger, vice president, worldwide sales, Air Astana.
Launched in May, the programme competes for business with Turkish Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, both of which have direct services between Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul.
On the return leg under this programme, groups of 20 or more are eligible for complimentary arrival and departure transfers, and hotel accommodation with breakfast in Almaty city for a day.
Desmond Lee, group managing director of Apple Vacations & Conventions in Kuala Lumpur, said: “For Malaysian outbound travel consultants, it will be easier to convince their customers to travel with Air Astana to Istanbul if they create and market packages combining Istanbul and Almaty as twin cities.
“Istanbul is a well-known destination for Malaysians but more destination awareness is needed for Almaty.”
Meanwhiile, President N A Nazarbayev, last Friday announced that 10 more countries have been included in the visa-free programme for 15 days, effective July 15. They are: Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Monaco, Singapore, Australia, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
