The flag carrier of Kazakhstan will begin its third route to Germany next summer. 
Air Astana will launch a thrice-weekly service from the country’s largest city to Frankfurt, Germany.
Three’s a party in Frankfurt
Air Astana will begin flying its Airbus A321LR between Almaty International Airport (ALA) and Frankfurt (FRA) on June 1st, 2025. The flights are already on sale and will join existing services by the carrier to Frankfurt from Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, and Uralsk in western Kazakhstan.
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The carrier confirmed the new link was timed to be convenient for both point-to-point and transit passengers and will operate three times a week at the following times:
|
Departure |
Arrival |
|
Almaty (ALA) – 01:30 |
Frankfurt (FRA) 06:55 |
|
Frankfurt (FRA) – 0830 |
Almaty (ALA) – 18:55 |
Photo: Air Astana
Germany is a significant market for Air Astana’s European network. The carrier first launched direct flights to Germany in 2003, and its link to Frankfurt from Astana’s Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ) operates on a daily basis with a Boeing 767. The weekly service from Uralsk (URA) runs on an Airbus A320 family aircraft.
Air Astana will face direct competition from German flag carrier Lufthansa on the newest link to Frankfurt. The Star Alliance carrier flies it and Airbus A330-300 widebodies on the route, which is also operated thrice weekly.
A winter of growth for Air Astana
Air Astana Group is the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus, with a fleet of 57 aircraft. The planes are split between legacy carrier Air Astana and FlyArystan, the low-cost airline it established in 2019. The Airbus A321LR aircraft set to operate the new link to Frankfurt will be one of twelve models the aircraft currently has in its fleet.
Photo: Air Astana
Earlier this summer, Air Astana signed an agreement with Air Lease Corporation for the operating lease of seven Airbus A321LR, with deliveries beginning in 2026. The additions are part of the group’s plan to expand the fleet to 80 aircraft by the end of 2028.
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Air Astana has a young fleet and has built itself to become the most highly acclaimed airline in the Central Asia region.
The addition of the A321LRs has also opened up new possibilities for the carrier. This winter season, Air Astana will operate a total of 40 international and 13 domestic routes, including charter operations.
Photo: Air Astana
With its A321LR fleet, the carrier serves several other European destinations in addition to Frankfurt. There are flights from Astana to Heraklion International Airport on the island of Crete in Greece, alongside flights from both Almaty and Astana to Podgorica (TGD), the Capital of Montenegro. Air Astana also has frequent flights to Turkey, but they are operated with a mix of aircraft.
Interestingly, one of the carrier’s European routes is the longest nonstop Airbus A321LR flight in the world. Air Astana’s link to London Heathrow (LHR) has been served using the type since 2021. The flight became 15% longer after the closure of Russian airspace and operated via Aktau in western Kazakhstan for a fuel stop. However, this winter, it switched back to nonstop thanks to the addition of extra fuel tanks in the carrier’s A321LR aircraft.
The most recent addition to the airlines’s A321LR network was the tropical resort island of Phu Quoc in Vietnam. Air Astana began flights to Phu Quoc from Almaty on October 28th, followed by a link from Astana, which began on December 3rd.
