OREANDA-NEWS. September 09, 2014. Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s principal airline, recorded an operating profit of USD 26.3 million and International Financial Standards Reporting (IFRS) net profit of USD 16.5 million for the 2nd quarter 2014, increases of 24% and 7% respectively over 2013.

The airline carried 939,000 passengers, a slight increase over 2013, and generated revenues of USD 230m, 4% less than in 2013.

The figures represent a profit rebound after the year’s 1st quarter was adversely affected by the 19% devaluation of the Kazakh Tengue in February. The airline also took delivery of three new Airbus A320 and one new Boeing 767-300ER during the period.

Peter Foster, Air Astana President, stated that the figures represented a quicker than expected recovery after the devaluation. “Markets have not been as affected as severely as expected by regional currency and political issues and are showing resilience”, he explained. “Having further reduced unit cost by 6% we are expecting a strong performance in the 3rd quarter and expect to again finish the year profitably, despite the USD 48 million book loss we were obliged to incur when the Tengue was devalued. Our investment and aircraft acquisition programmes are proceeding as planned.”

Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund Samruk Kazyna and BAE Systems, with respective shares of 51% and 49%.