Summary
- Air Astana sees strong start in 2024, with Q1 revenue up by 13.3% and a brand new path to Seoul announced for June.
- Group boosts capability and earnings, with $50 million EBITDAR in Q1, highlighting robust performance despite challenges.
- Compensation agreement with Pratt & Whitney and fleet expansion with Airbus A320neo deliveries assisting growth for Air Astana Group.
Air Astana has had an amazing begin to 2024, with strong first-quarter financial results, a compensation agreement with engine maker Pratt & Whitney and the announcement that the Astana to Seoul route will probably be resumed in June. The airline group boosted revenue by 13.3% year-on-year by carrying 1.9 million passengers, up from 1.6 million in the primary three months of 2023.
Returning to Seoul from Astana
Air Astana commenced flying between Astana and South Korea’s Seoul Incheon International (ICN) in 2015, and the route was suspended in 2020 attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, the full-service carrier announced it might resume the route on June 15, 2024, with a twice-weekly frequency using the brand new generation and longer-range Airbus A321LR narrowbody.
Photo: Air Astana
Resuming this route will complement the every day flights between Almaty and Seoul Incheon, which were launched in 2003. Since then, greater than 800,000 passengers have traveled on the route. Yesterday, Air Astana flight KC909 departed Almaty International (ALA) at 00:19 and, after a 5:23-hour flight, landed at Seoul Incheon at 09:42.
The flight was operated with a 2017 Boeing 767-300ER, registration EI-KEC and MSN 42223, one in all three 767s in Air Astana’s fleet of 29 aircraft. The return flight departed Seoul at 11:26 and was back in Almaty at 13:45. In keeping with Planespotters.net, the Air Astana fleet includes five Airbus A320neos, two A321-200s, 16 A321neos, three Boeing 767-300s and three Embraer E190-E2 regional jets.
Air Astana Opens First Central Asia EASA Certified Flight Training Centre
Today Air Astana commissioned its latest Flight Training Centre which can grow to be a regional resource for Central Asia airlines.
Air Astana can be increasing flight frequencies for its 2024 Summer Schedule from Almaty, including from Almaty to Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent as much as 14 times weekly; to Kyrgystan’s capital, Bishkek as much as eight times weekly and Tbilisi, as much as nine times every week; to Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe as much as 4 times every week and Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku as much as 3 times every week.
The numbers look good in Q1
Within the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1Q24), the Air Astana Group, which incorporates LCC FlyArystan, earned revenue of $264.7 million, a 13.3% year-on-year (YoY) gain from the $233.7 million in 1Q23. It carried 1.9 million passengers at a load factor of 81.2% and increased capability, as measured by available seat kilometers (ASKs) by 15.2% YOY and demand as measured by revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) by 13.5%, knocking 1.2 percentage points off the load factor.
Photo: FlyArystan
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and rent (EBITDAR), excluding non-recurring items, increased by 6.9% YoY to $50 million, in comparison with $46.7 million last yr. The group finished the quarter with money and bank balances of $369.5 million and net debt of $350.9 million, in comparison with $276.1 million and $485.9 million, respectively, in 1Q23.
Air Astana Will Sell Its Boeing 767s After Taking The 787 Dreamliner
Air Astana’s Boeing 787s are attributable to arrive in 2025.
Air Astana Group CEO Peter Foster said the robust performance got here despite the traditionally weaker first-quarter demand and the impact of the quieter Ramadan period, which fell almost entirely into the primary quarter this yr, adding:
“Passenger demand stays strong across each Air Astana and FlyArystan, underpinned by increasing levels of travel inside Kazakhstan, across Central Asia and to our nearby mega markets of China and India. With international bookings for summer ahead of last yr we’re ramping up capability by expanding the fleet and optimising resources.”
In March, the group reached an agreement with Pratt & Whitney to compensate for the disruptions stemming from the GTF neo engine availability issues. The agreement will help address costs and complement the present range of strong operational initiatives, including purchasing a sixth spare PW1100 GTF engine, which, combined with two other leased engines, is a component of the mitigation plan.
By the top of 1Q, the group’s fleet had reached 50 aircraft following the delivery of 1 Airbus A321neo to Air Astana in January, which was followed by the arrival of an Airbus A320neo to FlyArystan in April. FlyArystan also executed a lease agreement for one more two A320ceo jets, along with an earlier fleet plan, with deliveries expected in the primary quarter of 2025.
Have you ever flown with Air Astana or FlyArystan recently? Tell us within the comments.