OREANDA-NEWS. March 25, 2014. Air Astana's passenger numbers grew by 13.5% to 3.7 million in 2013 and the airline also carried a record 20,000 tons of cargo during the year.

At the end of the year ,the airline’s fleet stood at 30 aircraft with an average age of 6.4 years, following the retirement of the remainder of the Fokker 50 fleet and the introduction of new Boeing 767-300 ERs and Airbus A320s to replace older aircraft of the same type. The airline also increased its Embraer 190 fleet to eight aircraft. All of the new aircraft were purchased by the airline, using a combination of its own funds or by accessing global aviation finance markets, without the need for funding from the state or other shareholders.

Air Astana President Peter Foster stated, “The airline made significant fleet and product upgrades in 2013, in addition to introducing new regional and long-haul routes. These are investments for the long term, and enable us to continue to strengthen our position as the leader in this region’s aviation markets. Of course, we were delighted to have been awarded ‘Best Airline, Central Asia and India’ by Skytrax for the second year running, ” said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana.

The introduction of new international services and increased frequencies on existing routes significantly contributed to the growth in flight connections and transit passengers.The number of international tourists to Kazakhstan grew by 113% compared to 2012.