OREANDA-NEWS. It is planned to enhance the number of of sent and received flights to 20 000 by 2017. Therefore, passenger traffic will increase up to 5 mln people a year, as it was reporten in the capital akimat.

According to the press service of the airport, in 2012 its passenger traffic increased by 14% compared to 2011 and amounted to 2,303,143 people. Overall following the results of the last year 17,498 flights were handled by Astana airport.

Thus, in 2011 the international airport of Astana sent and received 15,325 flights, with a maximum passenger capacity in the peak hours was 750 passengers per hour.

However, in order to expand geographic flights of the capital of Kazakhstan, Ministry of Transport and Communications and the JSC “International airport “Astana”” are constantly working on the opening of new international air routes by foreign airlines. Let us recall that for the first time in 2012, the airline “Air Astana” opened flights to Baku, Tashkent, Beijing, St. Petersburg. Since 27 August 2012, the airline “China Southern” resumed flight from Astana to Urumqi.