OREANDA-NEWS. April 30, 2013. Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s Skytrax award winning carrier will launch a new nonstop flight from Astana to Orenburg in southern Russia tomorrow. The new service will connect Kazakhstan’s capital with one of the major cities of the south Ural region on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The two hours flight will be operated on Embraer 190 in a two class 97 seat configuration.

"The new service between Kazakhstan’s capital and Orenburg will allow the largest Kazakh diaspora in Russia, business executives and government officials to travel direct and comfortably between the two countries. The continuing expansion of direct services from Astana is part of the airline’s strategy to develop Kazakhstan as the leading transit hub for Eurasia", said Ibrahim Canliel, SVP Sales and Marketing, Air Astana.

Orenburg becomes Air Astana’s ninth new destination to be launched over the past 30 months and the eleventh service into the Russian Federation. Air Astana already performs flights from Almaty, Astana and Atyrau to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Samara and Novosibirsk.

The minimum cost of a round trip economy class ticket from Astana to Orenburg, including all fees, is USD 125 and a business class ticket is USD 836.