Air Astana has reported a net profit (unaudited) for 2015 of $47.4 million, an increase of 144% over 2014. Passenger numbers for the year increased by 2% to 3.86 million, whilst capacity increased by 6%. Total revenue fell by 21% from $933 million to $738.1 million.
Commenting on the results, Air Astana President & CEO Peter Foster, said: “A sharp fall in revenue was more than compensated for by significant cost savings, including, though not limited to, jet fuel savings. In spite of extremely challenging local and regional market conditions we were able to grow capacity and add new routes to Paris, Seoul and Tbilisi in 2015.”
Commenting on the prospects for 2016, Peter Foster said that he expects markets to continue to be weak. “Currency and commodity price weakness are ongoing challenges. We don’t expect great things from 2016, but with our cost base now amongst the lowest of any full service airline in the world, we expect to be well placed to take advantage when markets improve. We expect to add new routes to Tehran and Ulaanbaatar this year, and will take delivery of our first Airbus A320neo mid-year. 2016 will be about keeping our nerve, biding our time, and preparing for the recovery which we expect will come in 2017.”