The Kazakh delegation met with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's aviation authorities on the sidelines of the 41st Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which will be held in Montreal, Canada from September 27 to October 7, 2022. The parties were represented by Talgat Lastayev, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duayleh, President of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of the Kingdom.

The issue of direct flights between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia was discussed during the negotiations organised as part of the instructions following the meeting between the MIID's head, Kairbek Uskenbayev, and the Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq bin Fauzan bin Muhammad Al-Rabia.

The parties agreed on the importance of direct flights for the advancement of trade, economic, investment, and cultural cooperation between countries. As a result of the discussions, a protocol was signed that increased the number of regular passenger flights between the two countries by more than threefold, from four to fourteen per week.

On the Kazakh side, Air Astana and Fly Arystan airlines plan to launch regular flights on the routes Almaty - Medina and Aktau - Medina, respectively, with a frequency of two flights per week during the autumn-winter navigation period of 2022-2023. 

On the Kazakh side, Air Astana and Fly Arystan airlines plan to launch regular flights on the routes Almaty - Medina and Aktau - Medina, respectively, with a frequency of two flights per week during the autumn-winter navigation period of 2022-2023. Furthermore, beginning in October, the Kazakh airline SCAT intends to start operating two flights per week between Almaty and Jeddah.

In turn, Fly Nas Airline intends to launch regular flights between Jeddah and Almaty.

Following the meeting, the participants agreed to keep working on the expansion of air traffic between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.