Air Astana lowers domestic fares

Air Astana is lowering fares for domestic flights by 5 percent, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the company’s press-service. The prices will go down starting from September 20, 2012. For example, the highest economy-class price for Almaty-Astana flight will be lowered from 27,435 tenge ($183) to 26,063 tenge ($173). “The reason for lowering the fares lays in the decrease of aviation fuel costs in Kazakhstan that made around 20 percent in the last 3 months, whereas the aviation fuel prices lowered by less than 10 percent at the international market,” the press-release writes. “Considering recent rapid changes in prices in the recent months” the company is going to closely monitor the fuel market. In April 2012 the air company raised the fares by 16 percent raising a lot of discontent by doing so. To explain its decision the company pointed at the increased aviation fuel prices. “Fuel prices doubled compared to 2010. Such growth made aviation kerosene price in Kazakhstan one of the highest in the world. The growth cost the company a loss of $10.9 million in January-February 2012,” the company states. Air Astana introduced a fuel duty to cover the losses. On September 13 chairman of the Agency for Regulation of Natural Monopolies Murat Ospanov stated that the fares of the national air carrier must be lowered.