On August 1, 2022, it will be three years since the establishment of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan as an independent agency in charge with technical control and oversight over the safety and security of civil aviation.

The Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK) systematically implements measures to ensure safety in accordance with the best international practices. Currently, Kazakhstan citizens can fly directly  to 28 countries.

One of the main achievements of this year was the positive assessment by the European Commission of the measures taken by the Civil Aviation Committee and AAK in the field of ensuring safety. As a result, Kazakh airlines were not included in the list of air carriers banned to fly to the European Union.

This decision was preceded by a huge amount of work, including the transition to the European model of regulation, involvement of highly qualified foreign experts, the closure of seven airlines that did not comply with the safety standards, as well as building close cooperation with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Kazakhstan has achieved 82% of compliance with the ICAO standards, thus exceeding the global average by 15% and close to the EASA member States indicators (85%) and surpassing with EUR/NAT region (77%) and the World average (67%).

Since establishment, AAK has successfully passed a number of international inspections, including the ICAO Validation Mission (ICVM), a technical visit by experts from the European Commission, and a visit by experts from the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Currently, there are 912 aircraft in the State register, 75 of which perform regular passenger flights.  The most common type of aircraft is AIRBUS 320-232, the largest aircraft is Boeing 767–3KY. Air Astana has the largest fleet, the youngest airline with the youngest fleet is QAZAQ AIR.

Kazakhstan was the first CIS country to announce the 100% implementation of the Global Format for Presenting Data on the condition of the Runway Surface (GRF). This process was successfully completed by the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan in November 2021.

There are 25 airports (18 international, 7 domestic) and 6 heliports in Kazakhstan. On June 16, 2022, Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport was recognized as the best regional airport in Central Asia/CIS at the "World Airport Awards". This award is the most prestigious in the airport industry, evaluating customer service and convenience at more than 550 airports around the world. The international Turkestan airport is the first airport in Kazakhstan, which was built from scratch in the 30 years since country’s independence. This year, the certification of the airports of Urjar and Usharal was cperformed as the re-construction was complete.

This year, a new passenger terminal was opened at the Uralsk airport. In autumn of this year, the reconstruction of the passenger terminal at the airport Kostanay will be completed. On June 1 this year, the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev launched the construction of a new international terminal of Almaty airport. Currently, the work is underway on the reconstruction of the passenger terminal at Shymkent airport. All activities are being conducted within to create convenient conditions for the passengers. The new terminals will be significantly increased in area and equipped with modern technologies.

In general, there is a positive trend in the country passenger traffic. The number of passengers transported by domestic airlines for the first half of 2022 amounted to 4,605,470. Only in the second quarter of 2022, 5,172,536 passengers were served at the domestic airports, which is 39% more than in the first quarter. The total number of passengers served at the domestic airports in the first half of the year amounted to 8,889,989. The amount of processed cargo and mail at the airports of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the first half of the year amounted to 26,110 tons.

Currently, there are seven airlines operating regular commercial flights: Air Astana, SCAT, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, Zhetysu, Zhezkazgan Air and Southern Sky. The amount of cargo and mail transported by domestic airlines is 7,995 tons.

Capacity-building continues, and part of which includes training of aviation inspectors. With the support of AAK, airport employees were trained by foreign Wildlife Management inspectors. In addition, AAK employees have won three training grants from ICAO and the Government of the Republic of  South Korea, as well as one grant in Singapore to support young professionals.

For the period from 2019 to the present, AAK rendered about 9 thousand public services. 84 inspections of Aviation Training Centers were carried out and 33 certificates were issued.

In the field of Aviation security, 212 inspections and 24 certifications have been carried out over the past three years. In 2023, at the initiative of ICAO, a Global Symposium on Aviation Security and Facilitation (AVSEC/TRIP-2023) is planned to be held in Kazakhstan. On August 11-12 of this year, an international conference on Improving Aviation Security Measures will be held in Aktau.

AAK specialists participate on an ongoing basis in international working groups, the results of which are included in the regional safety program. In addition, together with the Civil Aviation Committee, they participate in the development and improvement of regulatory legal acts and the introduction of international standards in the field of civil aviation.

This year AAK specialists participated in the development of amendments to 32 by laws, 3 draft Government conclusions, proposals to 2 draft laws on civil aviation issues. In addition, there is constant support in the Parliament of the draft law “On amendments and additions to some legislative acts on transport issues” was submitted to the Mazhilis of the Parliament on June 30, 2021.

The expected effect of the amendments is to increase the level of safety, reduce corruption risks and ensure more objective verification of civil aviation, reduce the number of cases of undisciplined behavior of passengers on board aircraft, increase the safety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the airspace of Kazakhstan. For the period from 2020 to the present, 262 UAVs have been registered.

Strengthening international cooperation, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan signed an Agreement with ECAC on Kazakhstan's participation as an observer, as well as on cooperation in the field of aviation safety, accident investigation, flight safety and ecology.

Since the beginning of this year, discussions have been underway to increase technical capacity in preparation for the upcoming International FAA (IASA) Flight Safety Assessment to allow direct flights between Kazakhstan and the United States.

Today, we are working with all aviation stakeholders, CAC at the political and policy making levels, industry partners, economic development institutions and Academy to provide the highest level of effectiveness and efficiency of our services, in order to build and promote the safest and the most secure environment for our citizens and businesses.