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development in what IATA has practices. As time went by and markets
identified as one of the fastest developed, Air Astana manage-
growing regions for air travel in Air Astana hired the best pilots, ment realized that they had to
the world. Not bad for a busi- engineers and technical per- adapt to liberalization of markets
ness which, from BAE Systems’ sonnel in country and combined and growing democratization
standpoint, was conceived pri- them with a leadership team of air travel. In 2019, low-cost
marily as a conduit to a defense of internationally experienced brand, FlyArystan was estab-
deal which never actually airline managers and young lished, with a separate low-cost
happened. local high-grade talent drawn specialist management team
from outside the sector, in some and has gone on to become the
cases straight from university. fastest-growing airline in the
Here are reasons The airline invested heavily in world over the past five years.
explaining just how training and development, paid Air Astana has always placed a
this unlikely success people well, and expected high premium on keeping the senior
story unfolded performance in return. leadership team together.
Location and Timing. The Peter Foster, CEO has spent
Kazakhstan economy was From the outset, Air Astana nearly 19 years in the company,
growing rapidly as demand for focused on a single mission to but is by no means the lon-
its resources accelerated in create a commercially successful gest-serving senior manager.
the early part of the century. business, with no “non-commer- The team know and trust each
Demand for business travel from cial” considerations to distract it other, a key strength at any time
investors in the resource sector, and with uncompromisingly high but especially so when things go
and an increasingly affluent standards of operational safety, wrong. When Covid hit, followed
class of Kazakhstan residents reliability, and service delivery. in quick session by civil unrest in
needing or wishing to travel, Airline management realized country and the war in Ukraine,
combined to supercharge travel early on the potential not only of the management team were able
growth from a low base. At the point-to-point traffic, but also of to very quickly agree on and
time, the industry was still reel- the development of hubs from adapt the network and fleet and
ing from the 11th of September Almaty and Astana to and from shape of the operation.
2001 terrorist attacks, and costs Central Asia and the Caucasus
of entry were relatively low. onto a longer-haul network to As Peter Foster observes in nau-
China and East Asia, the Gulf, tical parlance, “It was a bit like
Previous attempts at estab- India, Turkey and Western sailing a catamaran in heavy
lishing national airlines since Europe. Management knew that weather, you have to know
independence in 1991 had not the “extended home market” which wave to catch and which
been successful for a variety concept so successfully devel- to steer clear of, in order to
of operational and governance oped by the likes of Singapore avoid stalling or pitch-poling.
reasons. Air Astana from day 1 Airlines, Emirates, and Cathay To do that you need a strong
sought to learn from those mis- Pacific could be applied to Air and united crew.”
takes and establish best airline Astana.
The napkin! The former
President and Dick Evans set
down in writing that the airline
would be free of political inter-
ference, allowed to get on with
building and running a business,
and be given no more money. It
worked!
(Richard Trevithick is a guest
writer for Air Astana)
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