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Originally intended to be a purely domestic airline, BAE Systems later agreed in mid 2001 to participate in the proposed startup at the request of Kazakhstan's then head of state, President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Their assistance was requested to facilitate an air radar contract. This was then negotiated with the Government of Kazakhstan.
Richard Evans, BAE Systems' chairman, was considered instrumental to the success of the deal. The radar contract never materialized.
2002–2025
Air Astana launched its operations under the leadership of its first president, Lloyd Paxton, a former executive of British Airways. The airline leased its first three Boeing 737s from the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and started commercial operations on 15 May 2002. Later in 2003, the airline leased Fokker 50s from Aircraft Finance Trading BV (AFT) and three Boeing 757s from Pegasus Leasing Corp. In its first full year of operations, Air Astana declared a net profit in 2003. When Air Kazakhstan, the previous flag carrier, declared bankruptcy in February 2004, Air Astana expanded its operations from its domestic network to key international routes including Dubai, Istanbul, Moscow, Beijing, Frankfurt, and London.
Peter Foster, a former executive of Cathay Pacific who had led the rehabilitation team at in 1999 before a spell as CEO at Royal Brunei Airlines, was appointed as the airline's president on 1 October 2005.
In an article on BAE Systems' offset programmes (10/10/13) the Financial Times stated, "BAE's 49 percent stake in Kazakhstan's Air Astana became one of the company's highest-yielding investments".
Air Astana received its first Airbus A320neo in November 2016. Until 8 December 2016, Air Astana was the only Kazakh airline allowed to fly to the European Union.
Air Astana was the official air carrier of Expo 2017 and the official carrier and general partner of the 2017 Winter Universiade, which took place from 29 January to 8 February 2017 in Almaty. Also, in 2017, Air Astana took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo, and in 2018, its first Embraer 190-E2. The Embraer aircraft featured a special Snow leopard livery to draw global attention to the threat of extinction faced by this large wild cat, which is a native to the mountain ranges of southern Kazakhstan. Air Astana also donated to Kazakhstan's Zoology Association, which is taking urgent action to protect the diminishing numbers of Snow leopards in the country.
In 2018, Air Astana marked its 16th anniversary with the opening of a new Aviation Technical Centre at Astana's international airport, which enabled Air Astana to undertake all aircraft engineering and servicing requirements up to a heavy maintenance level. Air Astana decided to establish a low-cost brand FlyArystan in 2018.
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In 2019, Air Astana took delivery of the first Airbus A321LR aircraft under an operating lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation and became the first operator of the aircraft type in the CIS. Also in 2019, Air Astana became the first airline in Kazakhstan able to independently perform heavy maintenance C1 and C2 checks on Airbus family aircraft at its engineering bases in Almaty and Astana.
In 2020, due to entry and exit restrictions imposed by several countries to limit the spread of COVID-19, 95% of Air Astana flights were cancelled between 22 March and 14 April 2020, with only 140 flights operated instead of almost 2,900. Air Astana gradually restored its domestic flights from May 2020 and international flights from June 2020.
In 2021, Air Astana received the highest level 5-star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax; and became the first airline from the CIS and Southeast Asia to successfully pass an APEX audit, with Diamond status being awarded for minimizing and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus during flights.
On 28 February and 1 March 2022, Air Astana successfully undertook repatriation flights for Kazakhstan citizens in Ukraine. Flights were operated between Katowice in southern Poland and Almaty/Astana. CEO Peter Foster went to Kyiv on the last international flight into the country on 23 February with Alexander Neboga, a senior colleague, to organize repatriation flights, and returned on the first of those.
On 11 March 2022, Air Astana informed that due to the withdrawal of insurance coverage for commercial flights to, from and over the Russian Federation, all flights to the Russian Federation were suspended with immediate effect.
In 2023, Air Astana commissioned its new Flight Training Centre at Astana International Airport. The new training centre is equipped with the L3 Harris Reality Seven full-flight simulation that delivers the most realistic training environment. The simulator is the first one with Air Astana and the first ever installation in Kazakhstan. Same year Air Astana completed its first six-year C-Check at the carrier's engineering and technical center in Astana.
In February 2024, Air Astana completed its initial public offering and was listed on the London, Astana and Kazakhstan stock exchanges. That year Air Astana Group carried 9 million passengers, up nearly one million from 2023. Revenue rose 12.4% to US$1.308 million, with operating profit up 14.9% to US$145.7 million and net profit up 6.0% to US$65.2 million, excluding non-recurring items. The Group reported continued growth in its first year as a public company.
In 2025, Air Astana Group has shown resilience with revenue growth of 11.4%. EBITDAR has remained stable at US$321.2 million (+0.8% compared to the previous year). Profit after tax actually decreased, from US$49.4 million to US$13.6 million. The carrier called out unscheduled engine removals caused by ongoing Pratt & Whitney engine recalls which have impacted profitability of the company.
The Air Astana Board of Directors announced that the airline's long-time CEO Peter Foster will retire from his position at the end of March 2026.
2026-present
In March 2026, BAE Systems has completed its exit from Air Astana by selling its remaining holdings in the airline, which have been gradually reduced from 49% at founding, to 17% at the IPO, around 7% in December 2025.
On 31 March 2026, Peter Foster retired as Chief Executive Officer after nearly 21 years. He was replaced as CEO by long-term senior executive and Chief Financial Officer Ibrahim Canliel. Foster remains connected to the airline as Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors.
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, met with CEO Ibrahim Canliel, who briefed the head of state on the operational and financial developments of the Air Astana Group.
From Wikipedia’s article on Air Astana, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4