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Air Astana has declared unaudited net profit for 2018 of US$5.3 million, driven by higher revenues and higher jet fuel costs.
The figure last year was $39.1 million.
Total airline revenue for the past 12 months rose by ten per cent to US$841 million.
Capacity as measured in available seat kilometres rose by five per cent and total passenger numbers by three per cent, to 4.3 million.
However, transit business via the airline’s Astana and Almaty hubs rose by 48 per cent, and now represents close to 40 per cent of total international traffic.
Operating costs rose by 14 per cent, driven mainly by an average jet fuel price increase of 27.5 per cent.
Commenting on the results, Peter Foster, Air Astana president stated: “Last year was a challenging year to due to higher-priced fuel, and pressure on international yields and domestic market share due to competitive capacity increases on key routes.”
Looking forward to 2019, Foster noted a fuel price reduction of 16 per cent from its peak in June, and pointed also to the expected May launch of its low-cost unit, FlyArystan.
“The low-cost airline is a great business opportunity on domestic and shorter regional routes.
“The travelling public will be delighted by the cheap fares we have in store, as long as the government facilitates the legislative changes required to enable FlyArystan to launch,” he added.
Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan, operates flights to over 60 domestic and international routes from hubs in Astana and Almaty.
Source: breakingtravelnews.com