Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) is planning to shift to a single-hub strategy as part of a revised ten-year business plan CAPA has reported. The state-owned carrier currently maintains significant bases at Kazakhstan's former capital, Almaty International, and Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev, its de-facto capital since 1997.

As such, given its better infrastructural capabilities, Astana is expected to be selected as Air Astana's primary hub. Currently, the carrier has a more or less even split in the distribution of weekly capacity between the cities with Almaty controlling the lion's share at 37,505 seats/week (32.12%) while Astana's controls 28,575 (24.47%).

Under the revised plan, Air Astana's order for three B787-8s is also under review. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery from 2019 onwards and are intended for the carrier's planned North American services.

Given its focus on the regional CIS, European, and Asian markets, Air Astana is also assessing potential new regional jets, CAPA said.

Air Astana currently operates one A319-100, eight A320-200s, four A321-200s, five B757-200s, three B767-300(ER)s, and nine E190s. It currently has three A320neo, eight A321neo (inclusive of four LRs needed to replace the B757s), and three B787s on order.