OREANDA-NEWS. August 03, 2012. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport holders can enjoy a 14 day visa free visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan and Kazakh nationals can similarly spend 14 days in Hong Kong on a visa free basis. The visa free agreement between the HKSAR and Kazakhstan governments was signed in May 2012, reported the press-centre of Air Astana.

Air Astana will launch a twice weekly flights between Almaty and Hong Kong service on 28th August, with the service to be operated by Boeing 757 configured in a 16 business class/150 economy class configuration. The duration of the Almaty to Hong Kong flight is 6 hours 10 minutes, while Hong Kong to Almaty flight is 7 hours 10 minutes. Passengers arriving in Hong Kong will enjoy convenient connections on partner airlines to southern China and south east Asia. For passengers arriving in Almaty, Air Astana offers a rapidly expanding network of international services to Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as a host of domestic destinations.

The cost of an economy return ticket from Hong Kong to Almaty starts at USD792, including all airport taxes and other fees, and from USD2606 for business class.

“I’m confident that the combination of visa free travel and the launch of new direct services from Almaty to Hong Kong next month will result in major business and leisure traffic growth between these two exciting destinations“, said Ibrahim Canliel, Air Astana Vice President Marketing and Sales. “Passengers travelling between sophisticated, alpine Almaty and energised Hong Kong will enjoy Skytrax 4-star award winning service.”