Page 20 - AAA JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 Online Magazine

INTERVIEW: AIR ASTANA
AGAINST
ALL ODDS
Air Astana has exceeded expectations in terms
of growth, quality and reputation, says its
President and CEO Peter Foster,
in an interview to Jay Menon.
hen Peter Foster decided to join Air Astana in
2005, his co-workers at Royal Brunei Airlines and
former colleagues at Cathay Pacific and elsewhere
Wraised their eyebrows as “no one had really heard
of Kazakhstan and certainly no one had heard of Air Astana.”
More than a decade on, nobody questions the wisdom of that
decision.
Tasked with nurturing the fledgling airline’s growth, Foster,
President and CEO of Air Astana, has seen the airline estab-
lish itself as one of Central Asia’s dominant carriers, delivering
profit margins that other airline chiefs might look enviously
upon. Foster has skillfully charted a course through complex
bureaucracy, as well as a European blacklist on Kazakhstan
carriers, to break through in terms of service levels, operational
reliability, and, of course, its international image.
Founded with a small amount of capital, Air Astana has not
received any funding from the Kazakh government or share-
holders in the form of loans, guarantees or fuel subsidies.
Foster is understandably proud of this fact. “We’ve always lived
by the mantra that financial independence equals manage-
ment independence, and management independence equals
the ability for us to do things the way we should,” he says.
“Governments and airlines just don’t mix,” he quips.
“The only way that Air Astana can be successful is by being
financially independent, and the only way we can do so is if
20 | January/February 2018
we operate on very clear strict commercial
principals,” he says. Currently, the national
carrier of Kazakhstan operates flights to
over 60 domestic and international routes
from hubs in Astana and Almaty. The com-
pany was incorporated in late 2001 and
commenced operations on May 15, 2002.
The Air Astana fleet consists of Boeing 767,
757, Airbus A319, A320, A320neo, A321 and
Embraer 190 aircraft.
Largest A320neo Operator
in Central Asia
Air Astana is poised to become one of the
largest A320neo Family operators in Central
Asia and CIS over the next three years. The
airline became the first operator of this type
in the region in 2016 and plans to increase
the A320neo fleet to 17 aircraft by 2020.
The carrier will then operate six A320neo,
seven A321neo and four A321neoLR types.
All aircraft will be acquired on an operating
lease basis in accordance with agreements
that were signed for 11 aircraft in 2015 and
six aircraft in 2017, according to Foster.
“Air Astana has plans to grow the fleet to
more than 60 aircraft over the next 10 years
and we look forward to becoming one of
the largest A320neo Family operators in the
region,” Foster says.
The delivery of the new generation A320neo
Family aircraft will allow for an overall
increase of capacity by upto 40 per cent
over the next three years. The A320neo
and A321neo will operate on domestic
and medium haul destinations, while the
A321neoLR has the capability to operate
long-range services from Almaty and Astana
to destinations in Asia and Europe. As well
as boosting frequencies on existing routes,
the aircraft will also be deployed on new
services to CIS and South Asia, Foster says.
In the first week of January 2018, the
airline took delivery of the first A321neo at
the Airbus facility in Hamburg, Germany.
The aircraft is on an operating lease from
Aercap, with the deal including two further
A321neo and one A320neo aircraft for deliv-
ery planned in 2018.
The Air Astana A321neo is configured
with 28 Business Class and 151 Economy
class seats, all of which are equipped with
personal IFE systems. The A321neo is pow-
ered by the latest generation Pratt & Whitney
engines, which together with aerodynamic
improvements, make it the quietest aircraft
in its class and also delivers fuel consump-
tion 15 per cent lower than the previous.
www.GBP.com.sg/AAA