SINGAPORE, 17 April 2026: Air Astana celebrated the launch of a new direct service from Almaty to Shanghai, China, with a press conference held last week at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai.
The launch of this new service to Shanghai, China’s largest and most commercially dynamic city, is a major step forward in Air Astana’s ongoing network expansion across the country.
The new Almaty to Shanghai route, introduced at the end of March, operates three times weekly and complements Air Astana’s existing network of services to Beijing, Guangzhou, Sanya, Ürümqi and Yining.
The addition of Shanghai strengthens the airline’s long-term commitment to developing connectivity between Kazakhstan and China, which began with its first flight between Almaty and Beijing in December 2002.
With Shanghai now part of the network, the Air Astana Group offers up to 32 weekly services between Kazakhstan and six Chinese cities, providing passengers with increased travel options and supporting both point-to-point and transit flows across Central Asia, the Caucasus, Europe and Asia.
In 2025, the airline group carried more than 250,000 passengers between Kazakhstan and China, a 96% increase over 2024.
Commenting at the event, Air Astana Group Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim Canliel said: “The launch of our Shanghai service is an important milestone in the development of our network and reflects the growing strength of ties between Kazakhstan and China. We see strong and accelerating demand across both business and leisure segments, supported by visa-free travel. Shanghai is a key global city, and this route, our sixth destination in China, will further enhance connectivity not only between our two countries, but also for passengers travelling onwards across our network.”
About Air Astana Group
Air Astana Group is the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus regions by revenue and fleet size. The group operates a fleet of 63 aircraft, split between Air Astana, its full-service airline, which began operations in 2002, and FlyArystan, its low-cost airline established in 2019.
(Source: Air Astana)
