Air Astana to retain domestic fares at the same level

Yerbol Ospanov, Air Astana's Senior Vice President, has announced the news today at a press briefing of the Central Communications Service under the President of Kazakhstan.
'We're not planning to increase airfare for domestic flights yet," Mr. Ospanov told the press briefing.
As for international flights, the prices went up by 7-10%. "Some of the international routes, for instance Astana - Moscow, Almaty - Moscow, Astana - Istanbul, Almaty - Istanbul are still available for the same price," the Senior Vice President added.
In his words, the increase in the cost of international tickets is driven by the recent changes in the tenge exchange rate. "The prices of international air carriers are fixed in the U.S. dollars. Kazakshtanis used to pay USD 1 000 (KZT 155 000) for an international airline ticket. In the light of the new exchange rate of about 185 tenge per dollar, they will have to plump down 185 000 tenge.