Air Kazakhstan (1996) (Almaty International) will commence scheduled domestic services during the second half of 2015 the Kazakh press has reported. Currently undergoing certification with local authorities, Air Kazakhstan will operate a fleet of ten Dash 8-400s sourced directly from Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) with Almaty International and Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev chosen as initial bases. Thereafter, base operations will be expanded to either Aktau or Atyrau depending on demand.
The carrier will mirror fellow carrier Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) in that the Kazakh sovereign investment fund Samruk-Kazyna NWF will be a majority 51% shareholder though it will differ in that the other 49% will be offered up to private investors.
At present, domestic flights in Kazakhstan are operated by five airlines namely: Air Astana, SCAT Airlines (DV, Shymkent), Bek Air (BEK, Almaty International), ZhezAir (KZH, Zhezkazgan), and Zhetysu (JTU, Taldy Kurgan).
