OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2013. Air Astana has taken delivery of the last of six new Airbus A320s, with the newest aircraft being the third to be equipped with Sharklet winglets and configured in a 16 business class/132 economy class configuration. The first commercial service for the new aircraft was on the Astana to Kyzylorda route.

The new fleet was ordered from Airbus during the official visit of Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan, to France in 2008 and has been funded through the airline's own resources, without any state funding.

"Air Astana embarked on a major fleet renewal programme five years ago and I'm now delighted that all six of the Airbus A320s ordered at that time are now in service. The A320 is a remarkably fuel efficient, reliable, comfortable and safe aircraft, with the latest "sharklet" equipped aircraft bringing further aerodynamic efficiencies and cost savings," said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana.

Air Astana commenced regular flight operations on 15 May 2002 and currently operates a network of more than 60 international and domestic routes from hubs in Almaty, Astana and Atyrau. Air Astana operated an all-western fleet of three Boeing 767-300ER, five Boeing 757-200, twelve Airbus A320 family aircraft and seven Embraer E-190. Air Astana became the first carrier from Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern Europe to be awarded the prestigious 4-Star rating by Skytrax in its World Airline Awards 2012 and was named The Best Airline in Central Asia and India. Both accolades were repeated in 2013.

Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund Samruk Kazyna and BAE Systems, with respective shares of 51% and 49%.