Air Astana’s EBITDAR result has dipped 17% to $105.2 million in the third quarter of 2025, with EBITDAR margin down seven percentage points to 24%.
The result was impacted by the continued Pratt & Whitney powdered metal engine inspections. The airline said it has been “proactive in mitigating” the impact of the challenge.
“Despite these actions, our Q3 capacity was further constrained by 19 unscheduled engine removals year-to-date, of which 14 occurred during the summer peak, caused by additional engine design defects,” said Air Astana CEO Peter Foster.
The engine challenges are expected to have impacted the EBITDAR result by $25.5 million. Additionally, currency exchange further negatively impacted the airline’s profitability.
“While it is frustrating to encounter these issues during our peak season, we are agile operators with a track record of navigating external headwinds,” said Foster.
The company is in “vigorous discussions” with Pratt & Whitney to address these issues, and it has adjusted its pricing structure to reflect currency depreciation.
“We anticipate that the Pratt & Whitney engine constraints will continue to persist across the industry and will require agile management in the years ahead,” the CEO added.
Following its third-quarter results, the airline said it will remain “disciplined” in its capacity optimisation.
Full-year unit costs are expected to be “slightly ahead” of unit revenue growth.
Profit after tax was down 56.5% to $20.6 million in the third quarter.
Revenue was up 8.8% to $438.6 million, supported by an 8.8% increase in passengers, totalling 3 million.
Load factor was down 1.9 percentage points to 85% and capacity was up 15.2%.
Unit revenues were up 2.1% to 6.45 cents, while unit costs were up 2.1% to 5.79 cents.
As of the end of the third quarter, the company’s net debt to EBITDAR was 1.33x.