Air Astana services connecting Almaty, Kazakhstan, with Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam via Bangkok, are set to commence in January 2013.
Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s Skytrax award winning flag carrier, continues to expand its Asian network and will launch a new service from Almaty to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This follows the start of services to Hong Kong in August 2012 and increases of frequency to several Asian destinations in recent months. Air Astana currently operates services to Bangkok, Beijing, Delhi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.
The flight to Ho Chi Minh City will be operated via Bangkok, with a total flight time of nine hours. The return flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Almaty will be operated non-stop and take only seven hours. Flights will initially be operated on Wednesdays and Fridays using a Boeing 757 configured in a 16 business class / 150 economy class layout. Fares from Almaty to Ho Chi Minh City start from US$590 including governmental taxes, airport fees and charges.
Air Astana offers flights from Almaty to nine domestic destinations including the capital Astana and Atyrau on the Caspian Sea, as well as regional services to cities including Baku (Azerbaijan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Moscow, Kazan, and St Petersburg (Russia), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), and Tbilisi (Georgia).
“Air Astana continues to grow in strength and reputation as Central Asia’s leading carrier, with the development of our Asian network being a very high priority. I’m delighted that Ho Chi Minh City is destined to become our next exciting destination from the region and confident that with its range of attractions, it will prove popular with tourists from Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries,” said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana.
Air Astana commenced regular flight operations in May 2002 and currently operates a network of more 50 international and domestic services from hubs in Almaty, Astana and Atyrau. Air Astana flies an all western fleet comprising of two Boeing 767s, five Boeing 757s, nine Airbus A320s, and six Embraer 190s. Air Astana is a full member of the International Air Transport Association and was the first airline in Kazakhstan to achieve EASA Part 145 aircraft maintenance certification.
Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund Samruk Kazyna and BAE Systems, with respective shares of 51% and 49%.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
