Air Astana is planning to spin off FlyArystan in a separate business entity by 2024. The news was confirmed by Almaz Ydryssov, vice minister of industry and infrastructure development of Kazakhstan. While speaking at a session in Kazakh senate, he said: “Fly Arystan airline is to operate as a separate legal entity after its separation from Air Astana in 2024.”
He went on to say that the move will have a positive effect on the competitive environment development, as well as reduction in airfare by fostering competition between the market players.
FlyArystan was set up as a low-cost subsidiary for Air Astana in 2018, with operations starting in March 2019. However, the airline began to feel the pinch of the pandemic prior to completing its first year of commercial operations.
FlyAryastan is an all-Airbus airline with both the ceo and neo variants of A320 jets. It took delivery of its first A320neo last year and now has four neos and nine A320ceos.
AirAstana has a mix of A320, B767s and E190s in the fleet.
The Air Astana Group posted a record after-tax profit of $78.4 million in 2022, which was 115% higher than in 2021 and carried 7.35 million passengers in 2022, the highest in the group's history.