Air Astana and China Southern Airlines sign codeshare agreement

Almaty, Kazakhstan – Air Astana JSC (the "Company" and, together with its subsidiary FlyArystan, the "Group"), the leading airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus regions by revenue and fleet size, has signed a codeshare agreement with China Southern Airlines to cooperate on trunk routes between Kazakhstan and China providing travellers with more flight options.

Air Astana and China Southern Airlines sign codeshare agreement

Almaty, Kazakhstan – Air Astana JSC (the "Company" and, together with its subsidiary FlyArystan, the "Group"), the leading airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus regions by revenue and fleet size, has signed a codeshare agreement with China Southern Airlines to cooperate on trunk routes between Kazakhstan and China providing travellers with more flight options.

The codeshare agreement, which was signed on 29 July 2025, covers Air Astana routes operated from Almaty to Beijing Capital, Almaty to Urumqi and Almaty to Guangzhou, as well as Astana to Beijing. For China Southern Airlines, the codeshare covers routes operated on a regular basis from Beijing Daxing to Almaty, Guangzhou to Almaty, Urumqi to Almaty and Xian to Almaty, together with Guangzhou to Astana and Urumqi to Astana.

Peter Foster, CEO of Air Astana Group, remarked, "China has always been a strategically important market for Air Astana. Partnering with China Southern Airlines will boost trade, tourism and cultural links with China and open a new chapter in aviation cooperation between the two countries."

China Southern Airlines President and CEO Han Wensheng stated, “Codeshare cooperation with Air Astana will result in an increase in our service frequencies to Kazakhstan. It is not only a strategic move leveraging both airlines’ strengths but also a significant step in deepening Belt and Road aviation connectivity between China and Kazakhstan”.          

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About Air Astana Group

Air Astana Group is the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus regions by revenue and fleet size. The Group operates a fleet of 61 aircraft split between Air Astana, its full-service airline that operated its inaugural flight in 2002, and FlyArystan, its low-cost airline established in 2019. The Group provides scheduled, point-to-point and transit, short-haul and long-haul air travel and cargo on domestic, regional and international routes across Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Far East, Gulf, India and Europe. Air Astana has been recognised by SkyTrax as the Best Airline in Central Asia & CIS fourteen years running and received the Best Airline Staff Service in Central Asia & CIS award nine times in a row. FlyArystan has been recognised as the Best Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) in Central Asia & CIS at the SkyTrax awards three times. Additionally, Air Astana was awarded a five-star rating in the major airline category by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX). The Group is listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, Astana International Exchange and London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: AIRA).

About China Southern

China Southern is committed to developing service brand combining “affinity and refinement” to deliver an exceptional and seamless travel experience to all passengers. In Year 2022, China Southern was honored as "China’s Best Airline" (SKYTRAX 2022) and "Five-Star Diamond Airline" (World Brand Lab 2023). It operates the most extensive Central Asia network topping all Chinese carriers: 7 destinations across all 5 Central Asian countries (Almaty, Astana, Tashkent, Samarkand, Dushanbe, Ashgabat, Bishkek). This decisive leadership position among all Chinese carriers in terms of the number of flights, flight frequencies and market share, makes China Southern a major force in building air connectivity between China and countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”.