In 2019 a new approach to state regulation of the civil aviation industry based on the model of the UK Civil Aviation Agency (UK CAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was launched. This transformation of industry management and flight safety is being implemented as part of step 68th of the National Plan in accordance with the instructions of the First President N.A. Nazarbayev.

The Presidential Administration, the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, and the Civil Aviation Committee had been working hard to change the current legislation over the of several years. For the first time in the system of state regulation of Kazakhstan, the European approach to flight safety management based on the British model has been introduced.  The basic law of civil aviation and 61 regulatory normative legal acts have been developed and the appropriate amendments have been introduced. This enables to implement the most modern standards, eliminate corruption risks in the industry.

As the outcome of this work, on August 1, 2019, for the first time in the civil aviation in the CIS countries, an industry regulator of Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan JSC was established, this performs flight safety control and oversight.  The efforts of Civil Aviation Committee of the MIID RoK and AAK were highly appreciated by ICAO and European Commission as a great step forward in improving the level of flight safety in the post-Soviet space.

To date, Kazakhstan has registered 60 operating airlines that perform regular and irregular flights, cargo flights, aviation operations, light and general aviation operators. During the year, aviation inspectors performed 84 inspections and 4 certifications of airlines. The total number of registered aircraft in Kazakhstan is 788. 280 aircraft inspections were carried out.  84 certificates of the state registration of civil aircraft, 146 certificates of airworthiness, 18 certificates of aircraft maintenance organization were issued. Kazakhstan has 24 certified airports, including 17 international and 7 domestic airports, and 6 certified heliports.  During the year of AAK operation, 11 airports and 4 heliports were certified, 13 inspections were carried out.

On behalf of President K.K.Tokayev, the Aviation Administration performed unscheduled inspection of Bek Air JSC operations. Based on outcome of the inspection, the Certificate of Airworthiness and Air Operator Certificate were revoked. In addition, unscheduled inspections of all airlines and aviation infrastructure facilities in Kazakhstan have been completed in order to bring them into compliance with safety requirements. As a result of the inspections, Aviation Administration suspended Air Operator Certificates of Azee Air LLP and Sigma Airlines LLP for violation of the Republic of Kazakhstan legislation and ICAO requirements.

In 2020, the aviation industry was significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The Aviation Administration is working to minimize the consequences of the pandemic and restore the civil aviation industry in Kazakhstan.

Recommendations were developed for the aviation industry entities and methods of control to ensure flight safety. Permits are extended - the validity period of certificates and certificates that expired during the state of emergency. Temporary procedures are designed to maintain the level of flight safety, which allows for remote monitoring of airlines compliance with the current requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

AAK is working together with ICAO and WHO on diseases transmission of by air transport. As a result of this work, Kazakhstan was invited to join Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA). Kazakhstan has also become a voluntary participant in Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation(CORSIA) program.

In December 2019 the situation center started functioning in Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan, as planned, which received more than 600 calls for providing advice to Bek Airpassengers. During the state of emergency, the work of the center was aimed at monitoring the situation of coronavirus in countries with which Kazakhstan has regular and irregular air services. About 1,900 calls were processed for passengers to consult on cancelled and restricted scheduled routes.

Peter Griffiths, CEO of AAK, notes: ‘The task of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan is to change the aviation regulation in the country in accordance with the vision of the President. This is a huge task, a project that requires the best transformation tools.’

To date, the first stage of the agreement between the International Civil Aviation Agency (CAAi) and the Aviation Administration to provide technical assistance for the transition to the British model of civil aviation regulation has been completed. Over the past nine months CAAi experts have analyzed the aviation legislation of Kazakhstan and recommended the best methods for further inclusion of EASA provisions/EU regulations of the AAKand their alignment with the model of the UK CAA. The Aviation Administration is working to create a system for digital regulation in the aviation industry, which will allow the use of big data methods to quickly verify information, speed up approvals and stop actions that are illegal or intended for disinformation.

AAK has signed several agreements with countries on cooperation in flight safety control and oversight, in accordance with article 83Bis of the Chicago Convention, which gives operators and leasing companies the right to choose where to register their aircraft. In order to improve the level of flight safety, the Aviation Administration holds regular meetings with representatives of the airlines and airports. In February this year, a large-scale meeting was held in Almaty with industry entities with subject of small aviation that affects the achievement of an acceptable level of flight safety.

‘The operations of the Aviation Administration are aimed to ensure sustainable development of Kazakhstan’s civil aviation industry. The most modern approaches to the regulation of flight safety and aviation security were introduced.  This made it possible to involve domestic and foreign qualified specialists, establish the latest standards and tighten safety oversight in this important area’ emphasizes Talgat Lastayev, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of the MIID of RoK.

In June, the European Commission published an updated list of airlines that are banned from flying to European Union countries (the black list). Based on the studied information provided by the CAC and AAK on the current state of flight safety, the Commission decided that there are no grounds for including Kazakh air carriers in this list.

Currently, the Civil Aviation Committee of the MIID RoK and the Aviation Administration are planning to implement a joint project with the European Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to improve the level of flight safety in Kazakhstan and obtain a Category 1 of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for flights to the United States.

Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development B. Atamkulov notes: ‘The aviation industry in Kazakhstan is changing, our goal is to have a highly efficient industry based in Central Asia, serving all the legitimate needs of the population. The Civil Aviation Committee and Aviation Administration have to continue implementing the 68-step of National Plan- 100 Concrete Steps’.