For the last two years Aviation regulation has been changing in Kazakhstan to deliver Step 68 of the National Plan 100 Concrete Steps. Today, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan JSC (hereinafter referred to as AAK) will take another vital step to delivery of this important part of the countries transformation of Aviation Safety Regulation.

To date our national Carrier, Air Astana has been operating its aircraft registered in Aruba, meaning that’s its licensing, airworthiness and crew certification is largely carried out in that country. This was necessary during the period of backlisting to ensure that routes could be operated by the airline to vital links in Europe. Today that will start a change which will deliver in 2024 the ability to register advanced aircraft fleets to be registered in Kazakhstan.

The agreements today allow Air Astana to start moving their fleet registrations to Ireland as part of a two step process taking approximately two years to create the correct conditions for alignment with EASA regulatory standards. There are two agreements. The first is an Article 83biz Agreement with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), which will see the transfer to the AAK of oversight responsibilities/control of the aircraft previously registered in Aruba, while the IAA will oversee the annual certification of the aircraft. The second agreement provides for the replacement of the current UKCAA agreement with a new agreement with EASA and IAA placing staff in Kazakhstan to help draft, train, and embed complex technical law to enable EASA regulatory standards to be applied.

In accordance with Article 83bis of the Chicago Convention, AAK signed an agreement with the Irish Aviation Authority on the transfer of responsibilities for the control and supervision of aircraft registered in Ireland operated by Kazakhstani airlines under dry leasing agreements.

The signing ceremony was attended by the Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Beibut Atamkulov, CAC Chairman Talgat Lastayev, AAK General Director Peter Griffiths, Irish Aviation Authority Diarmuid O’Сonghaile.

The signing of this agreement ensures the work carried out by the aviation authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the year, within the framework of the UK contract which focused on the building of the structure and processes of AAK now transfers to a new agreement concentrating on delivery of the EASA element. It is the culmination of a very lengthy process of inspections and addressing of concerns that has taken six months to complete.

Within the framework of this agreement, the parties will closely cooperate on building the capacity of AAK oversight of the safety of flights and aircraft operated by Kazakhstan’s airlines. As well as providing support for the preparation by the AAK for the upcoming audit by ICAO expected in late 2023 or early 2024. As part of this AAK will undergo an assessment by ICAO in August this year to assess progress.

Air Astana will begin transferring the first aircraft from the Aruba register to the Irish aircraft registry in August this year. In general, all aircraft of the Air Astana group of companies will be transferred to the Irish register during one year. Air Astana aircraft aviation registration prefix will be changed from P4 (Aruba) to EI (Ireland).

Ireland is an European Union member state and the work of the Irish aviation authorities is carried out in accordance with European requirements and under the supervision of the EASA. At the same time, the level of compliance with ICAO standards in Ireland according to the results of the last ICAO audit in the country was above 95%.

In this regard, the signing of this Article 83bis agreement is a recognition of the work carried out by the aviation authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the transition to a new management model under the 68th step of the Plan of the Nation. The work on the implementation of this step continues by AAK through a gradual transition to European standards.

An agreement was also signed with the aviation authorities of Ireland on technical support of the AAK, which is planned within a framework of cooperation with EASA on the main operational areas of flight operations (OPS), airworthiness (AIR) and licensing of aircraft personnel (PEL).

AAK General Director Peter Griffiths estimates that “The agreement will enable the AAK to further develop the skills and qualifications of its employees as part of a continual improvement process, as well as to learn from the best practices of the Irish aviation authorities. The signing of this agreement will support AAK to achieve its target of min of 80% compliance with ICAO requirements”.

Over the next 36 months, experts from the Irish regulator will assist the AAK in the development and implementation of European regulatory standards and management system components for the conduct of inspections, and preparing for upcoming audits (ICAO, FAA Cat 1). There will also be technical consultations on operational issues, training for AAK aviation inspectors and exchange of best practices.

The agreements signed today by the AAK and the Irish Aviation Authority show the world aviation community the progress being made by Kazakhstan in improving the level of flight safety in the country.