Qazaq Air (IQ, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) has signed an agreement with UAE-based firm, Falcon Aviation Services (FVS, Abu Dhabi Bateen), for the lease of three Dash 8-400s the first of which, P4-NUR (cn 4494), recently exited the paint shop in Almaty ahead of its formal presentation to the Kazakh public this week.
Though early press releases had pointed to a possible July 1 launch, delays in securing an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) from the Kazakh Civil Aviation Committee have lead to reports that July 20 may be a more realistic date.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, Qazaq Air will specialize in domestic operations and has thus far applied for rights to serve Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev, Shymkent, Aktobe, Pavlodar, Kostanay, Kyzylorda, Taldy Kurgan, and Balkhash.
The Kazakh domestic market has seen a dearth of services since Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) retired its fleet of Fokker 50s in January 2013.
