Air Astana introduces fifth weekly service between London Heathrow and Astana

Wednesday 22nd February 2017

Air Astana, Kazakhstan's Skytrax award-winning national airline, returns to the Business Travel Show in London Olympia this week, 22-23 February (Airline Pavilion Stand A1) with the announcement of a fifth weekly direct flight - on Sundays - from London Heathrow (LHR) to Kazakhstan's capital city, Astana (TSE), effective 4th June 2017.   The new service departs T4 at 1715, arriving 0540 the following morning in Astana, a 6.25hr journey.  The return departs Astana at 1455hrs local time, arriving 1605hr the same day, a 7.10 flight.

The new service, conveniently timed ahead of the capital's hosting of Expo 2017 (June 10th to September, 2017) complements existing departures to Astana on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  

Passengers flying direct with Air Astana, the only direct service between the two capitals, also benefit from seamless same-day connections to Kazakhstan's second city Almaty and international destinations including Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's capital; Urumqi, northwest China; Tbilisi, Georgia; and the Russian cities of Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.

Air Astana offers a three class product aboard its comfortable Boeing 757 aircraft - 16 seats in business; 108 in economy and up to 12 innovative Economy Sleeper Seats, which afford more personal space and privacy with a guaranteed row of three seats in the front of the Economy class cabin.  Return fares start from £498 for Economy Class, £1,505 for an Economy Sleeper, and £1,968 for Business Class. Fares include all taxes and are valid for year round departures from London including the peak season.

About Air Astana

Air Astana commenced scheduled flight operations on 15th May 2002 and currently operates a network of over 64 international and domestic routes from hubs in Almaty and Astana. Air Astana's fleet of 31 aircraft includes Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 757-200, Airbus A320 family including the first in CIS Airbus A320neo and Embraer E-190 types.

Air Astana became the first carrier from Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS) and Eastern Europe to be awarded the prestigious 4-Star rating by Skytrax at its World Airline Awards 2012 and was also named The Best Airline in Central Asia and India that year. Both achievements were repeated in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In February 2015, Air Astana received the prestigious Market Leader Award from influential industry publication, Air Transport World. 

The EU lifted all operational restrictions on Air Astana in December 2015.


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