SCAT Airlines (DV, Shimkent) has been approved to conduct flights to Saudi Arabia, including the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah International, Dammam and Madinah, with permission also granted for the Hajj season. The announcement was made by the Kazakh Minister of Industry and Development, Zhenis Kassymbek, on his Facebook page.

Currently, there are no direct flights between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia, although relations between the two countries are friendly. Despite being part of the Soviet Union from 1936 and 1991, Kazakhstan is predominantly Muslim with Islam being the religion of around 70% of the population.

SCAT Airlines primarily serves the Kazakh domestic market, and also offers scheduled international flights to Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia and China. Its fleet consists of two B737-300s, three B737-500s, one B737-700, four B757-200s, one B767-300, and six CRJ200s.