Air Astana buys seven Boeing planes

ALMATY. February 4. KAZINFORM /Berik Bekmurzayev/ Air Astana Company has signed a contract with the Boeing Company to purchase four Boeing 767-300ER aircrafts and three Boeing 787-Dreamliner jet airliners, Peter Foster, the Air Astana CEO announced on Saturday.

The Boeing 767 winglet-equipped airplanes will replace the same type of aircrafts in the fleet of Air Astana that are in the operating lease, and gradually replace the Boeing-757.

The total cost of the contract is USD 1.3 billion, which makes this order the largest in the history of civil aviation of Kazakhstan.

"The Boeing 767, which is able to carry out flights lasting up to 12 hours from Almaty and Astana, will fly in all directions offered by the Kazakh airline without limitation or technical stops. The Boeing 787 aircrafts, designed for flights of more than 16 hours, will not only operate within the existing route network, but can be considered for operating flights to the U.S., Australia and Africa. In general, the acquisition of new aircrafts will raise the standards of economic efficiency and comfort of the airline," Foster noted.