Air Astana Launches Almaty-Jeddah Service, Ticket Sales Now Open

Sales of tickets for Air Astana’s forthcoming Almaty-Jeddah service, which will launch on 1st October have already started. The Airbus A321LR aircraft, which come equipped with lie-flat business class seats and a spacious economy cabin, will be used to fly the about six to seven-hour voyage. Prior to the route, Simple Flying had a chance to meet with Peter Foster, CEO of Air Astana, who outlined the reasons for the route’s high demand.

Currently For Sale
Beginning on 1st October Air Astana will offer a twice-weekly service between Almaty, the company’s home base, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Tickets are already being sold, with roundtrip prices for economy class beginning at $734 and business class at $1,584. The following schedule will apply to the route:

• Almaty International Airport (ALA) to Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) flight number KC265 departs at 18:40 and lands at 22:30. operates with a 6 hour 50 minute flight time on Wednesdays and Sundays.
• KC 266: Takes off from JED at 23:30 and arrives in ALA at 08:15 (+1). operates with a 5 hour, 45 minute flight time on Wednesday (arrives Thursday) and Sunday (arrives Monday)

The Airbus A321LR, which seats 150 people and 16 in business class for a total of 166 passengers, will fly this route. The long-range aircraft will come in handy on the return leg, which has a red-eye and little flight time, even though the route is not long-haul.

Saudi Arabia Expanding
As part of the Kingdom’s effort to open up travel to the rest of the globe, Air Astana is one of the many airlines that have begun offering routes there. Air connectivity is a key component of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, with many low-cost airlines setting up bases as well as a new airline named Riyadh Air. The demand for services from carriers like Wizz Air has been strong, and Air Astana might experience comparable results.

The airline has good East-West connection through its hub in Almaty, with flights to China and Thailand. He discussed the new route with Peter Foster during a roundtable last week, “Jeddah is obviously a lot of religious traffic, with people going to Umrah. However, we’re also expecting a lot of inbound traffic from Saudi Arabia. We have seen [outbound] traffic from the country and Kazakhstan is a great country to visit given its culture.”

Due to problems obtaining Pratt & Whitney engines, the airline is currently having trouble maintaining its fleet. Foster has been worried that the engines have become a “chronic illness” for the airline despite the fact that only two of its A320neos had previously been grounded. This might thwart ambitions for rapid development. Although the airline has been operating successfully so far, this could also prevent future growth. However, the fleet is also well-prepared for the long future thanks to an order for more narrowbodies and the Boeing 787.