Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) has taken delivery of its first A321neo(LR) following the arrival of P4-KGA (msn 8837) at Almaty International from Hamburg Finkenwerder on Saturday, September 21. Featuring Pratt & Whitney PW1133G engines, the twinjet is the first of seven A321neo(LR)s scheduled to deliver to the Kazakh national carrier from Air Lease Corporation's order book with Airbus.
“The A321-200neo LR is instrumental to Air Astana’s fleet modernization program to support the airline’s extended range operations and expanding route network," Alex Khatibi, ALC's Executive Vice President, said in a statement.
Air Astana has previously said it would use the A321neo(LR)s to run long-range services from Almaty and Astana to destinations in Asia and Europe as well as new city pairs in the CIS and South Asia. The longhaul-capable narrowbody jets will also replace its existing fleet of now four B757-200s.
The Kazakh carrier currently operates three A321-200neo on lease from AerCap alongside four A321ceo, three A320neo, and eight A320ceo.
