# Qazaq Air

Qazaq Air is a Kazakh airline operating scheduled services from its main hub in Astana and focuses on domestic flights. It was established to improve the safety and availability of interregional air traffic in Kazakhstan and the border areas of neighboring states.
The spelling of the airline's name reflects the ongoing change in the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin verses.

## History
### 2015–2018

Qazaq Air was founded in April 2015 by the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. The airline was launched on 6 July 2015. It commenced operations on 27 August 2015 on the Almaty to Nur-Sultan route.
Qazaq Air served 15 destinations by the end of 2017.
It launched its first international route, from Almaty to Issyk-Kul International Airport in Kyrgyzstan, in July 2017.
In June 2018, China Express Airlines (Huaxia Airlines) expressed its readiness to take part in the privatization of Qazaq Air. The carriers signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of their strategic cooperation.

### 2019–present

Based on the results of the first half of 2019, the airline reported that it had transported more than 920,000 passengers since the beginning of its operations.
Despite the pandemic and the ban on flights announced in March 2020, Qazaq Air completed the process of relocating its main hub to the capital of the country, Nur-Sultan. It also opened its own website, introduced a new booking and sales system, and launched an electronic ticketing service. These changes resulted in a 14% increase in the number of passengers carried compared to the same period in 2019.
In fall 2020, the IQ Bonus loyalty program for frequent flyers was launched.
278,000 passengers were transported in the 1st half of 2021, an increase of 88% from the same period in 2020.
In 2024, it was announced that the carrier will be acquired by the Vietnamese-based Sovico Group - the co-founder and owner of VietJet Air, with proposal to establish a fleet of 20 Boeing 737 MAX or Airbus A320 family narrowbody jetliners.

## Destinations

Qazaq Air, operates both domestic and international flights. Below is a list of cities and airports served by the airline:
Qazaq Air destinations :
| City | Airport |
| Astana | Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport |
| Almaty | Almaty International Airport |
| Aktobe | Aktobe International Airport |
| Atyrau | Atyrau International Airport |
| Kokshetau | Kokshetau International Airport |
| Kostanay | Kostanay International Airport |
| Kyzylorda | Kyzylorda International Airport |
| Pavlodar | Pavlodar International Airport |
| Shymkent | Shymkent International Airport |
| Taldykorgan | Taldykorgan Airport |
| Uralsk | Uralsk International Airport |
| Turkestan | Turkestan International Airport |
| Samarkand | Samarkand International Airport (International route) |
| Omsk | Omsk Tsentralny Airport (International route) |
| Yekaterinburg | Koltsovo International Airport (International route) |
| Novosibirsk | Tolmachevo International Airport (International route) |
| Kazan | Kazan International Airport (International route) |

## Fleet

The Qazaq Air fleet is the youngest among the airlines in Kazakhstan.
Due to the increasing passenger traffic and demand for air transportation both within Kazakhstan and in the border regions, the airline plans to increase its fleet by 3 new aircraft.
Qazaq Air fleet :
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Passengers | Passengers | Notes |
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | J | Y | Total | Notes |
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 | 5 | — | — | 78 | 78 | |
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 | 5 | — | — | 76 | 76 | |
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 | 5 | — | — | 86 | 86 | |
| Total | 5 | 0 | | | | |