Having worked at some of Asia’s leading airlines, Peter Foster has led Kazakhstan national carrier Air Astana, a Skytrax 4 star airline, to unprecedented success, spearheading growth in Central Asia and opening Kazakhstan to the world. The airline’s CEO speaks with Nick Walton about the importance of service, a growing network and putting Central Asia on the map.
Many of our readers could be forgiven for having not heard of Air Astana, despite it being one of the most 20 most profitable airlines in the world. To what can you attribute the airline’s resounding success in just 14 short years?
A very stable management team which has always prioritised close attention to the detail of operational efficiency, service delivery and cost control.
Previously you’ve worked with major carriers like Cathay Pacific. What’s one golden rule you’ve taken from that experience and employed at Air Astana?
Cathay Pacific’s selection and management of its people, with particular attention to training and development and the maintenance of high morale, at all levels, has been essential to its success and we have followed those lessons at Air Astana.
What are the biggest challenges to operating an airline in Central Asia?
The regulatory framework is weak, and many airports suffer from under-investment and poor management. There are few quality service providers so we have to in-source almost core activities.
The airline has developed with an independent management structure, in a departure from many Central Asian and Russian carriers. Do you still consider Air Astana to be Kazakhstan’s national carrier?
Yes. We are proud to represent Kazakhstan globally. The shareholding structure and nationality of managers is irrelevant to that.
Where is Air Astana seeing its largest growth? How much of that is a developing domestic market?
The domestic market is flat at the moment – in fact it is shrinking – due to currency and commodity price weakness. However we are increasingly a network carrier and because of our efficient unit cost base, high quality product and good location, we are able to profitably develop new and hopefully sustainable 6th freedom traffic flows.
You’ve made orders for new aircraft, including 787s – what impact with those make on your operations and network?
The 787s will allow us to efficiently develop more longer haul routes to serve our growing network traffic demand.
Air Astana flies to a growing number of long-haul destinations, including 15 cities in Asia, the Middle East and Europe – what’s the airline’s growth game plan?
We don’t have aspirations to copy any particular airline and we are not high-growth junkies. We expect to continue to adopt the lessons of strong airlines like Emirates, Singapore and Cathay, but to grow at our own measured pace.
Based on your many accolades and our own experience on-board, service has been at the forefront of Air Astana’s offering, earning it the coveted position of a Skytrax 4 star airline. Are these service levels inherent to Kazakhstan or is that a deliberate push by the airline?
The CIS pre-independence was not known for its high standards of service – that’s rather an understatement – so we have had to pretty much start from scratch in that area. The good news has been that Kazakhs are a naturally very warm and welcoming people, so service comes quite naturally to them.
What does Air Astana offer business travellers from Asia, both in terms of getting to and from Central Asia and in terms of transiting through Kazakhstan and on to other destinations on your network. What aspects of this offering needs work?
High quality service and reliability, with one of the best punctuality records of any airline in the world, and a growing network of flights to many previously inaccessible countries and cities. Transit facilities at Astana airport are improving and the increasing number of international chain hotels make Kazakhstan an attractive stopover option. Almaty in particular is a beautiful city, full of culture, entertainment and lively places to visit and see and set against the magnificent backdrop of the Tien Shan mountains. Most people don’t need visas and it is well worth a short stopover en route to elsewhere (read more about our experiences flying Air Astana here and here).
Does Air Astana have alliance aspirations?
Not at this point. We prefer to work with many airlines from different alliances and not to limit our options.
For more info on Air Astana go to https://airastana.com
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