Air Astana CEO Optimistic Despite Loss of $94 Million in 2020

After reporting a loss of $94 million in 2020, Air Astana has estimated its financial performance for the combined months of January and February 2021 to be at its highest level since 2017.

The 2020 figure, the airline’s second-ever annual loss, was the result of total or partial shutdowns caused by the ongoing global COVID19 pandemic, which resulted in capacity and revenue falls of 47% and 55% respectively. The total number of passengers carried fell by 28% to 3.7 million.

Commenting on the results, President & CEO, Peter Foster, said, “Whilst the devastating effect of the pandemic on international travel needs no elaboration, the airline is resilient. Domestic air travel recovered strongly from May, and our low cost carrier FlyArystan recorded 110% passenger growth.

“Cargo had a good year, helped by the conversion of a Boeing 767 into an all-freight configuration, and the partially-restored international network, together with new leisure routes, recorded improved yields and load factors in the final weeks of the year. We are seeing these trends continue into 2021, hence the improved outlook for this year.”

In recent months Air Astana has restored some flights to Moscow, Dubai, Tashkent, Frankfurt, Seoul, Bishkek, Kiev, Istanbul, Antalya, and Sharm El Sheikh, in addition to starting flights to Maldives, Mattala (Sri Lanka) and Hurghada (Egypt).

The airline retired its fleet of Boeing 757 and Embraer 190 aircraft in 2020, and now operates exclusively Airbus 321 Long Range and late-model Boeing 767s on its major international routes. The effect, says Foster, is a “significant product upgrade across the network, delivering a high level of service delivery improvement, which we believe will pay off as markets slowly recover.”

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