Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) has been given the go-ahead to increase its European coverage after the European Union's Air Safety Committee (ASC) lifted sanctions placed on the carrier in 2009.
In its latest bulletin detailing changes to the bloc's Banned Operators List, the ASC said the Kazakh carrier had shown its safety oversights and procedures to be in line with international standards but said that all other Kazakh airlines would remain banned until the Kazakh authorities implement a sustainable system to effectively oversee the safety of these carriers.
In April 2009, an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), found the Kazakhstan Civil Aviation Committee (CAC) to be non-compliant in key areas of regulatory oversight. Though this resulted in the ASC imposing a blanket ban on all Kazakh-registered airlines from flying to, from or within the European Union, Air Astana was exempted on account of its unique structure and regulatory framework including its European EASA Part 145 aircraft engineering license, the registration of its aircraft with the Department of Civil Aviation of Aruba (a Dutch overseas territory) and its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registration.
A 51/49 joint-venture between Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth-fund, Samruk-Kazyna, and BAe Systems (Warton), Air Astana's EU-based destinations are London Heathrow, Frankfurt International and Amsterdam Schiphol though Paris CDG and Prague Václav Havel are reportedly under consideration.
