Kazakhstan-based FlyArystan has commenced twice-weekly passenger flights to Delhi, becoming the primary Indian city to be served by the fast-growing low-cost carrier.
Latest twice-weekly service
Almaty, Kazakhstan-based low-cost carrier FlyArystan has commenced operations between the Kazakh city of Shymkent and the Indian capital city of Delhi. Having announced its plans to operate the route just last month, the airline will initially fly twice weekly between the 2 cities.
Flying on Mondays and Thursdays, the flight is flown by considered one of the airline’s fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. Each FlyArystan aircraft seats 180 passengers in an all-economy class layout.
Photo: Tom Boon – Easy Flying
With the inception of this recent route, Delhi becomes FlyArystan’s eighth international destination. The airline already has flights to Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey, Kutaisi in Georgia, Baku in Azerbaijan, Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Yerevan in Armenia, and Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.
Speaking in regards to the commencement of services to India, Madina Buzhinova, FlyArystan’s Marketing and Sales Director, said,
“Kazakhstan and India have long-standing trade, economic and cultural relations. Kazakhstanis select India not just for vacation but additionally travel for the aim of spiritual enrichment and medical tourism. We’re pleased that the brand new FlyArystan destination will allow our compatriots so as to add one other country to their travel portfolio. Our company is committed to providing inexpensive air travel options for passengers, and this recent route will enable us to satisfy the growing demand amongst students and tourists to travel between countries.”
The brand new service is scheduled to take just below three hours to fly the 1,043-mile (1,669 km) route. The aircraft operating the inaugural flight KC7469 (an A320neo registered EI-KBR) departed Shymkent Airport (CIT) 14 minutes late at 03:34 and arrived at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in Delhi at 06:08. 17 minutes ahead of schedule.
Photo: FlyArystan
Coming in the wrong way, FlyArystan states that residents of India can now fly direct from their capital to the picturesque city of Shymkent, which has recently seen its popularity rise amongst overseas tourists, being situated a three-hour drive from Turkestan, the spiritual and cultural center of the country.
Visa requirements relaxed
The opening of the brand new route was facilitated by the recent change in visa requirements between the 2 countries. Although all Kazakh travelers are still required to use for a visa to enter India, in line with the brand new regulations, Indian residents traveling for business, private, and tourism purposes can enter Kazakhstan and not using a visa for as much as 14 calendar days from the moment of crossing the border.
Photo: Vladimir Tretyakov | Shutterstock
Speaking about how this alteration will help to spice up passenger numbers for the airline, Pom Komutanont, Chief Operating Officer of FlyArystan, explained,
“For the reason that cancellation of the visa regime for Indian residents to enter Kazakhstan, the flow of tourists has increased significantly; due to this fact, we decided to fill the necessity of passengers to travel between countries pursuing our important goal, providing inexpensive, convenient, and high-quality air transportation options.”
Mr Komutanont continued,
“Kazakhstan has develop into one of the popular destinations amongst Indians attributable to its natural beauty, big selection of out of doors activities, and world-renowned hospitality of the people. Other than this, the country has a specific concentrate on developing education and attracting international students, in order that Indian travelers who’re fascinated with exploring educational or business opportunities can find opportunities in various sectors.”
FlyArystan is on the up
FlyArystan is currently owned by Kazakhstan’s flag airline Air Astana although recent reports have suggested that Air Astana may spin off FlyArystan right into a separate business by 2024.
Since commencing operations in 2018, the low-cost airline has gone from strength to strength. 2022 was a very strong one for the airline, through which it flew three million passengers on over 20,000 flights. It flew 6% more passengers last 12 months than it did in 2021 and in addition has a mean load factor of 87%.
Photo: Airbus
The airline currently operates 14 Airbus A320 aircraft in its fleet and received its first recent factory fresh A320neo aircraft in September last 12 months. It now operates five of the later model in its fleet. By the top of 2023, the corporate intends to extend its operating fleet to 19 aircraft in total.
In 2022, FlyArystan passed the Skytrax audit for the primary time and received 4 stars, becoming considered one of 12 low-cost airlines worldwide to receive such a rating.
Photo: Art Konovalov / Shutterstock
The airline’s current route network includes domestic flights across Kazakhstan in addition to its eight international destinations in Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and now India.