Air Astana names new CEO

Air Astana veteran Ibrahim Canliel has stepped up to become the new Chief Executive Officer of Air Astana Group. Canliel has served as the airline’s Chief Financial Officer since 2017 and over the previous 14 years was a member of the leadership team that shaped the carrier’s strategic and financial development, which culminated in it becoming a UK and Kazakhstan publicly listed company in 2024. Ibrahim Canliel In the new CEO capacity, Canliel will focus on strengthening operational resilience, supporting sustainable growth and advancing the Group’s dual-brand strategy across Air Astana and FlyArystan. Commenting on his new appointment, Canliel stated, “I am delighted and feel privileged to take the helm as CEO of the Air Astana Group today.  Whilst this is a significant milestone personally, it also provides continuity to all our 7,000 employees and stakeholders. The Air Astana Group is the clear leader in Central Asia and the Caucasus; not only from a fleet and passenger numbers perspective, but also in operational standards, service levels and international coverage. It is my commitment to protect and enhance our founding principles: ensuring the highest global operational, safety and services standards; preserving the utmost level of corporate governance; and maintaining commercial and financial independence. Our location, with almost half of the World’s population living in our vicinity, gives us a unique strategic advantage that we are committed to harness. I am excited to have the opportunity to write the next chapter of the success story and to further strengthen our position as the airline of choice for travel in our region.” New services from Almaty to Shanghai and Astana to Guangzhou Air Astana has launched its summer schedule, which runs through until 24th October 2026. During this period, flight frequencies to existing destinations have been increased, seasonal routes resumed and new destinations inaugurated. The new Almaty to Shanghai service was launched on 29 March 2026 , which initially operates three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. A further new China service between Astana and Guangzhou, will commence on 2nd June 2026, with twice weekly flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays. New services between Astana and Larnaca (Cyprus)  will launch on 2nd June 2026 and from Almaty to Larnaca from 4 June 2026. All services will be operated with Airbus A321LR aircraft. Gradual increases in flights from Astana and Almaty to Beijing, Istanbul and Antalya (Turkey) are expected during the Summer Schedule period and flights from Astana to Frankfurt will operate daily starting in May. The number of flights from Almaty to Urumqi (China), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) are also expected to increase. Seasonal flights are resuming from Almaty to Nha Trang & Da Nang (Vietnam), Batumi (Georgia), Podgorica (Montenegro) and Bodrum (Turkey), as well as from Astana to Nha Trang & Da Nang, Podgorica, Tbilisi, Bodrum and Tashkent and from Atyrau to Tbilisi. Seasonal flights from Almaty to Male (Maldives) have been extended until the end of May. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Sally Passey at [email protected]