Air Astana and Turkish Airlines sign codeshare agreement

Air Astana and Turkish Airlines, Skytrax award-winning carriers from Central Asia and Europe, have signed a codeshare agreement on routes between Kazakhstan and Turkey.

Air Astana and Turkish Airlines, Skytrax award-winning carriers from Central Asia and Europe, have signed a codeshare agreement on routes between Kazakhstan and Turkey. The agreement was signed at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Cape Town yesterday by Peter Foster, President of Air Astana, and Dr Temel Kotil, President and CEO of Turkish Airlines.

Air Astana and Turkish Airlines signed the Letter of Intent to expand the range of cooperation between the two carriers in March 2013. The codeshare agreement allowed passengers to benefit from a higher number of combined frequencies for better connectivity and increased travel flexibility between the two countries. Codesharing on flights between Almaty – Istanbul and Astana โ€“ Istanbul additionally include special prorate agreements on sectors beyond respective hubs in Almaty, Astana and Istanbul.

โ€œUnder the strong and visionary leadership of Temel Kotil, Turkish Airlines has become a globally recognized network carrier serving more countries globally than any other carrier and achieved the Skytrax rating as โ€œBest Airline in Europeโ€ for the past two years consecutively. The code-share agreement signed today is the latest step in the increasingly close link between the two airlines; both of which show equal ambition to continue to rogress well above average world ratings and fully committed to delivering excellence in customer service,โ€ said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana.

โ€œWe are extremely pleased to sign this codeshare agreement with Air Astan and aim to improve our partnership to maximize the travel opportunities offered to passengers through the extensive networks of both airlines. Air Astana continues expanding successfully, offering superior customer service, with a very young fleet. We believe the partnership with Air Astana will bring enormous benefit to both airlines, not only from a commercial perspective in rapidly growing Kazakhstan, but also in technical and training areas,โ€ said Dr Temel Kotil, President and CEO of Turkish Airlines,

Air Astana commenced regular flight operations on 15 May 2002 and currently operates a network of almost 60 international and domestic routes from hubs in Almaty, Astana and Atyrau. Air Astana flies an all-western fleet comprised of two Boeing 767s, five Boeing 757s, twelve Airbus A320 family aircraft, and seven Embraer 190s. Air Astana has become the first carrier from Russia/the CIS /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.

Air Astana is a full member of the International Air Transport Association and was the first airline in Kazakhstan to achieve EU EASA Part 145 aircraft maintenance certification. In September 2011, Air Astana successfully completed its third ATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).

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

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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