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Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air eyes regional jets, narrowbodies

Qazaq Air (IQ, Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev) is looking to grow its fleet with the addition of regional jets and narrowbody aircraft, Acting Chief Executive Yerkin Nauryzbayev told Aviation Week.

"We must grow; we are using the full capacity of our fleet," he said, underlining a lack of capacity in the domestic market in particular.

The state-owned carrier currently operates five DHC-8-Q400s, which are 5.7 years old on average, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. It competes in the domestic market with larger, jet operators: Air Astana and its LCC division FlyArystan, and privately-owned SCAT Airlines.

Currently, the only operator of regional jets in Kazakhstan is Air Astana with its fleet of five E190-E2s.

Qazaq Air is wholly-owned by the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, which also holds a 51% stake in Air Astana, although the two carriers operate independently. However, the Kazakh government, nudged by the country's Agency for Protection and Development of Competition, is evaluating options for the privatisation of Qazaq Air to promote more effective competition...

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