Air Astana offered to transfer airports to Samruk-Kazyna

Kazakhstan airports have to be transferred into ownership of Samruk-Kazyna National Sovereign Wealth Fund, President of Air Astana Peter Foster suggested during a roundtable meeting on the prospects of the airline development, Tengrinews.kz reports. "Kazakhstan airports have to be part of Samruk-Kazyna. Creation of a holding company for strategic management of the airports should be considered," Foster said. According to Foster this step would help not just Air Astana, but the whole civil aviaton of Kazakhstan, to grow and develop in accordance with the country's and the population's needs. Air companies might find if hard to develop and increase their traffic volume if there is no clear coordination of the airports' operations, Peter Foster said. "This would cause Kazakhstan to loose its position of the air hub of the region in favor of its neighbors," the airline's president shared his concerns.