Air Astana takes delivery of first owned aircraft
Air Astana took delivery of its first fully-owned aircraft on Thursday (1 November 2012), when a brand new Embraer E190 arrived in Almaty International Airport.
The new regional aircraft becomes the sixth E190 to join the Air Astana fleet since 2011, with the previous five aircraft all being leased. A further two E190s are scheduled to join the Kazakhstan national carrier’s fleet before the end of 2013, one of which will also be owned. The total value of the two purchased aircraft is US$86 million.
To mark the occasion, the aircraft will be named after Kazakhstan’s first female pilot, Hiuaz Dospanova, and will be operated on services to destinations in Central Asia, the Caucasus and southern Russia.
The Brazilian Embraer jets form part of a major fleet expansion plan for Air Astana that will see a total of 14 new aircraft join the fleet, 10 of which will be delivered in the next 14 months.