Air Astana places firm order for 25 Airbus A320neo family aircraft with growth on the horizon
March 2, 2026
Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan, has confirmed an order for a further 25 Airbus A320neo family aircraft.
The order was originally signalled in November 2025, when the carrier signed a Memorandum of Understanding to take delivery of up to 50 single-aisle aircraft from Airbus.
Air Astana signs for a further 25 Airbus A320neo family aircraft
According to an Airbus statement published on 2 March, Air Astana’s latest order for 25 A320neo family aircraft is the largest ever new aircraft order placed by the Air Astana Group, which includes Air Astana plus its low-cost carrier subsidiary FlyArystan.
The signing came on the 20th anniversary of Air Astana operating its first A320 in 2006.
The order for the 25 new aircraft will see five A320neo and 20 A321neo aircraft join the group, although the specific breakdown between the two carriers was not disclosed. The new planes are being added as part of an overall strategy to expand the fleet and broaden the group’s route network.
At present, the group operates a fleet of 59 Airbus A320 family aircraft. Air Astana operates 11 A320neos, four A321-200s and 18 A321neos in its fleet. Meanwhile, FlyArystan operates a fleet of 12 A320ceos and 14 A320neos. The older A320ceos were all transferred from the parent company as its newer A320neos arrived.
According to Peter Foster, CEO of Air Astana (who is stepping down later this month), the new order will help the carrier build on its reputation for operational efficiency and reliability.
Foster also hailed the A320 family for much of the group’s success over the past 20 years and highlighted the A321LR in particular for bringing what he described as the “world’s best narrow-body long-haul product.’
Adding to Foster’s comments, Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, Airbus EVP Sales of the Commercial Aircraft business at Airbus, said that the order enhances the bond between the two carriers, adding that the additional aircraft will “ensure they continue to set the regional gold standard for fleet modernisation, operational excellence and passenger experience.”
Most of Air Astana’s new aircraft will be A321LRs
When the deal was initially announced in November 2025, Air Astana said that the majority of the new planes would be the A321LR, having seen significant success with the aircraft type since it was first delivered to the carrier in 2019.
The airline currently has ten of the type in service, serving long-haul, thinner-density routes from Europe and the Far East to Kazakhstan.
Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that the Airbus A321LRs operate routes which include the Astana to Dubai connection in addition to rotations serving London (LHR), Seoul (ICN), Bangkok (BKK), Bishkek (BSZ), Guangzhou (CAN), Frankfurt (FRA), Istanbul (IST), Jeddah (JED), Phu Quoc Island (PQC), and Hong Kong (HKG).
As Foster revealed in an interview with Aerospace Global News in Kazakhstan in 2025, the carrier originally faced several challenges with its A321LR fleet. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine meant that it ceased flying to Moscow and had to reroute its European flights that used Russia’s airspace.
He said it cost the carrier an additional 90 minutes of flight time per sector, ultimately exceeding the A321LR’s range for some destinations.
However, to counter this, it retrofitted its A321LRs with a third auxiliary centre tank, “That has increased the range of the aircraft, so we can now get roughly 4,200 nautical miles,” he told AGN. The added capacity has allowed the airline to deploy the aircraft on routes that were previously unavailable, expanding its reach and network.
Air Astana is forging ahead with plans for future expansion
Along with the arrival of an additional Airbus narrowbody aircraft to its fleet, the airline is also due to receive up to 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft as the airline looks to expand long-haul operations and replace its ageing Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which currently operate routes to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The deal for the Boeing 787-9s was finalised with Boeing on February 17, 2026, and had been, up until the Airbus order, the largest single aircraft purchase in Air Astana’s history. Combined with three additional 787-9s to be delivered through leasing arrangements, the airline’s Dreamliner fleet will reach 18 aircraft once all deliveries are complete.
The new aircraft will seat 303 passengers and enable Air Astana to expand capacity on existing routes while opening possibilities for direct operations to North American destinations for the first time – a long-held ambition of Foster that should become a reality once the first aircraft arrives with the carrier in 2032.
The remaining aircraft should join the fleet by 2035 in a deal that was said to be worth $7 billion.
Featured image: Airbus
