On International Civil Aviation Day, we traditionally publish the results of the outgoing year in the industry.
A historic event in the civil aviation of our country can be called the meeting of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with the President of the ICAO Council Salvatore Sciaccitano, which took place on November 12, 2024 at the World Climate Summit in Baku.
The Head of State noted that over 30 years of fruitful cooperation with ICAO, Kazakhstan's compliance with the Organization's standards has reached 82%, which is comparable to the level of leading European countries.
Salvatore Sciaccitano congratulated Kazakhstan on its impressive achievements in the field of civil aviation and security and announced his plans to visit Astana in 2025.
In general, 12.3 million people were transported by Kazakh airlines in 10 months of 2024, which is 11% more than the same period in 2023 (11.1 million people). The volume of transported cargo by air transport amounted to 22.4 thousand tons, which is 18% more than in the same period of 2023 (19 thousand tons).
During this period, the number of passengers served by domestic airports amounted to 25.2 million people, which is 14% higher than the same period in 2023 (22 million people), 141.7 thousand tons of cargo were handled, which is also 34% more than the same period in 2023 (105.7 thousand tons).
Currently, 6 airlines (Air Astana, FlyArystan, SCAT, Qazaq Air, Southern Sky, Zhetysu) operate domestic air transportation on 57 routes with a frequency of 669 flights per week (2023: 5 airlines, 51 routes, 630 flights per week).
In order to ensure transport accessibility to socially significant destinations and the development of domestic tourism, 19 domestic air routes in 9 regions are subsidized in the amount of 6.6 billion tenge.
International flights are operated to 31 countries (Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, South Korea, China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Maldives, Turkey, United Kingdom Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic) on 115 routes with a frequency of 571 flights per week (2023: 28 countries, 115 routes, 550 flights per week).
Work continues on expanding the fleet of aircraft. Since the beginning of 2024, the fleet of aircraft of domestic airlines has been replenished by 10 units. (Air Astana Group of companies, type A321 aircraft).
At the expense of private investments, without attracting budgetary funds, on behalf of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as part of the modernization of the air transport infrastructure, the construction of new passenger terminals in Kyzylorda and Almaty was completed, and also in Shymkent.
Construction of a new airport terminal complex at Atyrau Airport named after The hiuaz of Dospanova will also begin in 2025 at the expense of private investments, without attracting budget funds. In September 2024, the repair of the runway of Astana airport was completed ahead of schedule.
In accordance with the instruction of the Head of State, repair work has begun this year at the airports of Pavlodar and Balkhash.
In his Message to the people of Kazakhstan this year, the Head of State paid great attention to the development of civil aviation. The most important task is the development of air hubs, the President noted. The development of domestic air routes is in the area of close attention. Airport complexes and airports with high-quality road infrastructure will be built in the resort areas of Katon-Karagai, Zaisan and Kendirli. Small aircraft will be purchased at the expense of the Industry Development Fund.
The result of the efforts of the aviation authorities of our country to ensure high standards of aviation safety can also be called Kazakhstan's entry into the top 5 most developing tourist destinations. According to the prestigious British travel magazine Wanderlust, Kazakhstan is one of the most desirable countries for tourists from all over the world to visit.
It should be noted that these achievements were made possible thanks to effective work on regulating the activities of the aviation industry. The creation and implementation of new regulations, as well as the improvement of existing regulations, have allowed not only to increase the level of safety, but also to improve the quality of passenger service. International and national initiatives aimed at standardizing and improving air transport safety have played an important role in this process.
As a result of the work carried out, this year, following the results of a technical visit by experts from the European Commission, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the aviation authorities of the European Union members and the results of the meeting of the European Commission's Flight Safety Committee, Kazakhstan was excluded from enhanced safety monitoring. Kazakh airlines can fly to Europe without restrictions.
As part of the work on the opening of direct flights between Kazakhstan and the United States in August 2024, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan successfully passed the preliminary technical assessment of the FAA of the United States International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA). After successfully passing the FAA audit by Kazakhstan and the arrival of Boeing-787 Dreamliner long-haul airliners, it is planned to open direct flights from Kazakhstan to the United States in 2026.
The year 2024 was marked by major events for Kazakhstan's civil aviation, including a number of high-level events with the participation of international organizations. Work is actively underway to strengthen regional cooperation and a high-quality international presence.
Kazakhstan has been officially represented in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In July, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to ICAO Timur Tlegenov presented his credentials to the Secretary General of the Organization Juan Carlos Salazar, who highly appreciated the achievements and role of Kazakhstan in the international arena and noted the authority of the state, which maintains good relations with all countries of the world and international organizations.
In May this year, Astana hosted a Plenary meeting of JARUS, the Joint Committee of Aviation Authorities for the Development of Regulatory documents on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, the world's largest player in the field of aviation drones, which brought together representatives from 65 countries and international organizations.
In June, for the first time among the Central Asian countries, a regional forum on freight transportation and logistics was organized in Astana under the auspices of the International Air Freight Association (TIACA). It was attended by more than 300 delegates from 30 countries representing various organizations involved in the entire freight transportation chain.
In November of this year, for the first time, the Week of ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, one of the most important UN structural units in the field of civil aviation, was organized in Kazakhstan.
The event became an important event for the aviation industry of the country and the region as a whole. The attention of global industry experts was directed to regional seminars to raise awareness of risk assessment processes for flights over or near conflict zones, as well as Green Airports on the development of low-carbon dioxide airports, with a special focus on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).
In May this year, Kazakhstan was the first among the CIS countries to sign an agreement with ICAO and joined the program in the field of environmentally friendly aviation fuel (ACT-SAF). Kazakhstan will produce environmentally friendly aviation fuel. Currently, a project for the production of environmentally friendly aviation fuel is being developed jointly with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
An important event of the ICAO Week was the first meeting of the participating countries of the Eurasian Civil Aviation Conference (EACAC). For the first time in Central Asia, a regional civil aviation organization has been established. In November, the aviation authorities of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Mongolia (observer State) gathered in Almaty to sign the declaration on the establishment of EACAC.
Following the meeting, Talgat Lastaev, Vice Minister of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was appointed Secretary General of EASAC, and Tahir Nazarov, Director General of the Civil Aviation Agency under the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was appointed President of EACAC.
EACAC will allow consolidated expression of position in the framework of work with such institutions of the global industry as ICAO, the European Commission, IATA and other international organizations.
In 2024, Air Astana was recognized as the best airline in Central Asia, which was awarded the Best Overall Airline Award APEX 2025.
In November, the prestigious award of the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) conference, which is a key event in the global aviation industry, was received by Kazaeronavigation RSE in the nomination "The David J. Hurley Memorial Award for Aviation Traffic Management".
Passenger traffic shows steady growth – by more than 20% annually. The efforts of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan are supported by reputable organizations in the global industry and serve as an example of successful implementation of aviation reforms in Central Asia and the CIS.
The further work of the aviation authorities of Kazakhstan will be aimed at improving and strengthening the achieved level of flight safety, developing the route network and modernizing the air transport infrastructure.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/transport/press/news/details/898340