Summary
- Air Astana reports strong financial performance, with revenue up 13.8% to $1.3bn in 2023.
- With costs growing, the airline saw a decrease in operating profit and profit after tax.
- Air Astana experienced international growth by adding latest routes after exiting Ukraine and Russia.
After listing on three stock exchanges earlier this yr, Air Astana has revealed one other yr of big profits after carrying a record variety of passengers. The Kazakh flag carrier revealed that it had an operating profit of $136.0 million, which shrank to $68.7 million after tax.
Air Astana
- IATA/ICAO Code
- KC/KZR
- 12 months Founded
- 2002
- CEO
- Peter Foster
Unlike many international airlines, Air Astana only suffered one yr of losses in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 saw a lack of -$93.9 million. Partly by capitalizing on a previously untapped market inside Kazakhstan, the airline already returned to a profit of $36.2 million in 2021. Summing 2023 up in a single sentence, Group CEO Peter Foster said,
“Air Astana delivered one other strong yr of growth in 2023 with record passenger numbers and increased capability.”
2023 in numbers
In 2023 Air Astana saw its revenue jump by 13.8% from $1.0bn in 2022 to $1.3bn. Unfortunately, the airline also saw costs grow slighty greater than revenue. Which means that the operating profit and profit after tax bost saw a decrease yr over yr. Operating profit fell from $148.7 million in 2022 to $136.0 million, while profit after tax fell from $78.4 million to $68.7 million. This continues to be the airline’s second largest profit by an enormous margin in accordance with data from ch-aviation,
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Net Profit |
$5.4m |
$30.0m |
-$93.9m |
$36.2m |
$78.4m |
$68.7m |
Photo: Air Astana
Air Astana see international growth
Air Astana revealed that it has seen significant growth on international routes to and from Kazakhstan in 2023. That is depsite the carrier exiting each Ukraine and Russia in 2022 as the present onflict broke out. The Kazakh carrier has leveraged this capability elsewhere, with routes to Georgia, Greece, Montenegro, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan being added to the network. The carrier saw its international ASKs rise by 15.5% while domestic ASKs only rose 5.9%.
ASK stands for Available Seat Kilometers. It’s a measure of the whole capability offered by an airline and is calculated by the variety of seats offered, buy the length of the route. If an airplane had 100 seats and flew 800km, the ASKs can be 100×800=80,000.
Photo: Air Astana
Well placed to mitigate P&W impact
Last summer Air Astana’s CEO Peter Foster compared the Pratt & Whitney engine issues to a chronic illness while talking to Easy Flying. The excellent news is that the carrier reports that it’s well positioned to to mitigate the operational impact of remaining engine recalls. It currently has 28 aircraft equipted with the affected engines, and 32 engine removals scheduled.
Air Astana CEO: Pratt & Whitney Issues Have Change into “A Chronic Illness”
Although the airline only has two A320neos on the bottom at present, things could change very rapidly.
The airline already has five alternative engines, and is expecting one other three throughout 2024. Two of theses might be leased, while the third has been purchased by Air Astana. The carrier can be “resting” some engines to administer the variety of remaining cycles, while also aquiring latest aircraft, and searching at additional A320ceo capability. On the problem, Air Astana remarked,
“Looking forward, the Company is pleased to notice that it’s at a really advanced stage in positive negotiations for an agreement with Pratt & Whitney that can provide compensation and other support to the Company for the impact to its operations arising from the GTF neo engine availability issues.”
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