June 1–15 Central Asian Commercial Aviation News Brief
All restrictions on flights to European Union countries have been lifted from airlines from Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Transport of the Central Asian country reported.
The decision was made at a meeting of the European Commission’s Air Safety Committee on May 15, where Kazakhstan's aviation authorities reported on the rectification of previously identified deficiencies in this sector.
In a letter dated May 30, 2024, Philip Cornelis, Director of the Aviation in the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport of the European Commission, noted that "the European Commission has decided to terminate the enhanced monitoring of Kazakhstan's activities."
An ICAO audit showed that in 2023, Kazakhstan's compliance level with flight safety was 82%, comparable to the average level of EASA member states' aviation safety.
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The largest airport in Central Asia, Almaty in Kazakhstan, has increased its capacity by half with the opening of a new passenger terminal.
The terminal welcomed its first passengers on June 1 with test flights by Air Astana from London and to Doha. Full-scale operations of the 53,000 square meter terminal will commence on June 15.
The new terminal will have an annual capacity of 14 million passengers, which is 50% more than the airport's current capacity. In 2023, Almaty Airport (ALA) handled 9.5 million passengers, with more than half of the passenger traffic being served by Kazakh flag carrier Air Astana.
Construction of the new terminal in Almaty began in May 2021 and was carried out by the airport operator, the Turkish holding TAV Group, entirely with private investments totaling $200 million.
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Qatar Airways has launched regular non-stop flights to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, making it the second city served by the national carrier of the State of Qatar in the Central Asian market following Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The new summer service (running June through October) will be operated four times a week by an Airbus A320 aircraft, connecting Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) with Islam Karimov Tashkent airport (TAS).
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A new investor plans to transform Karaganda’s Sary-Arka Airport into a multimodal hub, said Maksut Kozhanov, head of the Passenger Transport and Highways Department of the Karaganda region in Kazakhstan, on June 3.
In late May, it was announced that Timur Turlov, the head and founder of Freedom Holding financial group, had acquired a 60% stake in the airport from its previous major shareholder, Kazakhstani businessman Yerlan Ospanov, who retains a 35% stake.
Currently, this airport in central Kazakhstan regularly serves cargo flights from Belgium, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Ecuador. According to Kozhanov, developing Karaganda Airport as a multimodal hub will create 2,000 jobs and increase its cargo traffic from the current 15,000 tons to 200,000 tons by 2030.
Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) has a goal to increase annual passenger traffic to 5 million by 2030, the carrier’s president Samir Rzayev said in an interview with APA agency. He reminded that with an increase in the number of routes and frequencies in 2023, Azerbaijan’s flag carrier’s passenger traffic grew by 30% year-on-year reaching 2.9 million.
“We see rapid growth [of passenger traffic] in 2024,” Rzayev added. In the first four months of this year, Azerbaijan Airlines pumped up the number of passengers by more than half, to 1.1 million.
AZAL operated flights to 52 destinations in January-April 2024, which was 11 more than a year ago. In particular, flights to London Gatwick Airport and the Pakistani capital Karachi were launched, and flights to Tel Aviv also resumed, Rzayev said.
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Uzbekistan Airports, the operator of the Central Asian country’s airports, continues to actively attract new air cargo carriers as it prepares to open a new cargo terminal in Tashkent at the end of the year.
Following negotiations, Chinese cargo airline YTO Cargo Airlines agreed to launch scheduled cargo flights to Uzbekistan. Its first flight to Tashkent is scheduled for June 6. Notably, the airline will operate Chinese-made Comac ARJ21-700F regional jet.
Separately, Uzbekistan Airports, Uzaviation and Uzaeronavigatsia held a meeting with a delegation of French cargo airline CMA CGM Air Cargo, where they discussed issues related to cargo flights from China to France with a technical stop at Navoi Airport (for refueling and crew change).
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The Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK) and the State Civil Aviation Agency of Kyrgyzstan (GAGA KMKR) signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in the field of civil aviation to improve flight safety, aviation safety and ensure sustainable development of the aviation industry.
The parties identified areas of mutual cooperation through exchange of experience and information on methods and tools to ensure flight safety and aviation security, exchange of specialists for training, professional development and expansion of practical experience in the field of civil aviation, work in joint working groups, participation in industry events and organization of joint meetings, conferences, workshops, etc.
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Chinese LCC Loong Air plans to launch a new air route from Xi'an to Samarkand in the second half of June, Uzbekistan Airports, operator of the Central Asian country’s airports revealed.
In doing so, it will become the second Chinese airline to fly to this Uzbek airport. Last October, first-ever scheduled direct service between China (Urumqi) and Samarkand was inaugurated by China Southern Airlines.
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Montenegro's national carrier, Air Montenegro, has launched its first route to the South Caucasus. On June 7, it began flights from Tivat to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. These flights will be operated twice a week using Embraer E195LR regional jet.
Azerbaijani carrier AZAL started operating flights to Tivat twice a week from the beginning of May using more capacious Airbus A320 narrowbody.
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Italy's EU Wings has agreed to perform aircraft line maintenance at six airports in Uzbekistan, but has not yet committed to set up a joint venture for base MRO at Navoi Airport.
Uzbekistan Airports and EU Wings signed a cooperation agreement under which the Italian provider will perform line maintenance of aircraft at Tashkent, Bukhara, Navoi, Urgench, Namangan and Fergana airports, the Uzbek airport operator said in a statement.
The types to be served include Airbus A319, A320, A321, A330, Boeing 737, 767, 777, 787, Embraer RJ 170/190 and ATR 42/72.
The cooperation between the companies began in March, when they signed a memorandum of understanding at the regional trade event MRO Central Asia 2024 to explore the creation of a joint center for basе aircraft maintenance at Navoi airport.
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A new direct air route has connected Tajikistan and China. On June 7, the Chinese airline Chengdu Airlines started operating regular flights between Khujand and Kashgar (Xinjiang region of China) using Comac ARJ21-700, regional jet, made in China. This is the first time that a passenger ARJ21 has flown to Central Asia.
The Central Asia's republics neighboring China and with their small passenger and cargo flows look like an ideal market for the short-haul aircraft. Depending on the configuration, the passenger ARJ21 is designed to carry from 70 to 115 people at a distance of 2,200 to 3,700 kilometers. The maximum payload of the cargo version of this aircraft is 10 tons, with a range of 2,780 km.
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Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD, Azerbaijan) served more than 625,000 passengers, a 36% increase year-on-year.
Foreign airlines accounted for 55% of passenger traffic on international routes, with the national carrier accounting for the rest. Foreign airlines carried more than 314,000 passengers, and Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) – 252,000.
The number of transit passengers doubled to29,700 people.
Top 10 international destinations from Baku this May included Istanbul, Moscow, Tbilisi, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ankara, Sharjah, Delhi, St. Petersburg and Doha.
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The Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK) and JAA Training Organisation (JAA TO), a Dutch non-profit organisation and the Associated Body of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), announce the signing of a three-year Training Service Agreement (TSA).
Under the terms of the agreement, JAA TO will provide comprehensive training services to the AAK, focusing on enhancing the skills, knowledge and competencies of the country's aviation professionals.
The training programs will cover a range of topics, including aviation safety, aircraft maintenance, aviation auditing and regulation facilitated in both classroom and virtual delivery.
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Panorama Airways, privately-run startup from Uzbekistan, now has only one aircraft at its disposal, after returning two of its Airbus A330 widebodies to ACMI provider SmartLynx Malta.
Currently, the airline operates a single A320-200, which resumed flights in early June 2024 after being grounded since October 2023, according to tracking services. It flies exclusively on the Tashkent-Medina route.
Panorama Airways is not the only young airline in Uzbekistan struggling to gain full operational capacity.
Among Uzbekistan’s carriers, Fly Khiva also has only one aircraft, a Boeing 767-300ER freighter, which has not started operations since its acquisition in March.
Air Samarkand is experiencing similar issues, currently operating with one Airbus A330-300. It also has an A321neo that hasn't flown since May 17 and an A321ceo that has yet to fly.
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Georgian Airways has become the first airline in Georgia to receive a wide-body passenger aircraft. The airline announced on June 14 that it has leased a 22-year-old GE-powered Boeing 767-300ER from a major American company, believed to be AerCap.
The aircraft features a three-class configuration with a capacity of 250 passengers, enabling long-haul flights up to 12 hours.
Before acquiring this wide-body, the Georgian Airways fleet consisted of narrow-body Boeing 737-700s and -800s, as well as one regional CRJ200, used for flights to Western Europe, the Middle East, and Russia.