Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) has signed a new dry lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation for seven new A321-200NX(LR)s with deliveries slated for between 2026 and 2028, the carrier said in a stock market filing.

The Kazakh flag carrier already operates twelve A321-200NX(LR)s (ten of which are leased from Air Lease Corporation), as well as eleven A320-200s, thirteen A320-200Ns, two A321-200s, and four A321-200Ns in terms of its narrowbody aircraft. It has no outstanding orders for narrowbodies from manufacturers but plans to add three more A320-200Ns from Avolon, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.

Meanwhile, the Kazakh government revealed, following a meeting between Zhaslan Madiyev, minister of digital development, innovation, and aerospace, with Boeing, that the first B787 for a "Kazakh airline" will be delivered in late 2025.

Air Astana signed a dry lease agreement for three B787-9s - its first new-generation widebodies - in November 2022. At that time, the airline expected the deliveries to commence in "early 2025". Air Astana also has a direct order for three B787-8s from Boeing but has not clarified whether it still plans to take them in light of the existing lease commitment.

The airline aims to use the incoming B787s to, among other plans, launch its long-awaited flights to the United States in 2025. Its current widebody fleet of three B767-300ERs does not allow for such long-range operations.