Some countries are located in such a way that they are important transport hubs connecting states or parts of the world. Kazakhstan is one of them. The airport is the most important element of the aviation network. The following are the main airports of the country, the current situation in this area and development prospects.
Importance of aviation in Kazakhstan
Due to the large area, air transport is of great importance for Kazakhstan. There are 22 major airports on its territory, 14 of which are international. Aviation is of great importance here both for the country itself and for the whole world, since through it passenger and cargo turnover is carried out between Asia and Europe, the USA.
Main airports
Alma-Ata Airport is the largest. It is located in the southeastern part of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The airport was established in 1935. It provides the largest share of bothdomestic and international passenger and cargo air transportation. Moreover, the passenger flow is increasing every year. In 2015, it amounted to more than 4.9 million people. Communication with 55 cities of the world through regular flights is carried out by this airport in Kazakhstan. For this, Almaty has two runways suitable for any aircraft. In 2012, he was recognized as the best in the CIS.
The second largest domestic air traffic in the Republic of Kazakhstan is Astana Airport. It is located in the northern part of the country. It was founded earlier than Alma-Ata, in 1930. Passenger traffic here is also growing every year. In 2015, this indicator reached more than 3.3 million people. The airport has one runway suitable for all types of aircraft.
The third largest airport is Aktau, located in the south-west of the country. Despite the fact that the city near which it is located is small, its industrial importance led to the appearance of a very large airport here in 1983. Its passenger turnover in 2015 amounted to about 0.9 million people and also continues to grow. In addition, aircraft of the Air Force of the Republic of Kazakhstan are stationed here. The airport belongs to class B. It has one runway that can not accept aircraft of all types.
Current situation
In 2013, a specialized airport management company called Airport Management LLP was established as a division of JSC NC "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy"group. It has received in management for 7 years blocks of shares of six airports, including Astana. On the basis of inspections, the difficult financial situation of some of them, especially regional ones, was established. These include, for example, Petropavlovsk Airport. In the future, Kazakhstan will transfer five more objects to the management of the Airport Management Group.
The General Director of this company, Claude Badan, considers the strength of the air transport system of Kazakhstan to be the annual growth of passenger traffic by 10%. At the same time, the problems, in his opinion, are the non-compliance of many indicators with ICAO standards and the low income of airports from non-aviation commercial activities, which are less than 5%.
In addition, Kazakhstan has an advantageous position for transit flights connecting Europe and the US with Asia, but this potential is poorly used. In addition, the principle of "open skies" does not apply here, allowing foreign companies to fly without restrictions and approvals.
Prospects
To improve the efficiency of airports and airlines in general, their reconstruction is planned. Until 2020, 167 billion tenge will be allocated for these purposes, and another 20 billion until 2030. In the period from 2015 to 2017, the reconstruction of the airports of Astana, Shymkent, Kostanay, Petropavlovsk, Kyzylorda will be carried out. The program for their restoration involves the renewal of passenger terminals, runways and infrastructure for a total amount of about 99 billion tenge.
The most extensive plans forAstana, which is partly due to the 2017 EXPO exhibition in the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The airport is planned to be improved not only technically, but also in terms of service. First of all, a new passenger terminal with a capacity of 4 million people per year will be built, which will increase the total passenger turnover to 7 million people per year. The existing terminal will be transferred to domestic flights. In order to simplify the passage of customs and passport control, a new management system has already been introduced. In addition, it is planned to improve the quality of food both at the airport itself and on board aircraft, as well as reduce prices in cafes and shops. Finally, it is planned to improve transport links with the city and organize the operation of taxis.
Every other airport in Kazakhstan plans to reconstruct in a similar way, but on a different scale. Many of them are already in the process of being upgraded.
Now work is underway to create a multimodal system for the transportation of goods, which will further increase their flow between continents.
Finally, it is possible to introduce the principle of "open skies" at the airports of Astana and Kokshetau. This will create inconvenience for local carriers, but will increase airport revenue.
