Northstar

FEATURE www.travelweeklyweb.com Photo: Qatar Airways Air Astana's president, Peter Foster, receiving the Skytrax award Dubai International Airport The heart of Central Asia With Etihad codesharing strategic alliances boosting its repertoire of service networks, the Middle Eastern reach has touched base with Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan, thanks to its partnership with Air Astana. Internationally an underdog, the carrier has come a long way to reach its status symbol now as the Best Airline in Central Asia and India – bestowed upon them for two years in a row at the Paris Air Show in June. For the first half of 2013, Air Astana reported an increase of 143 per cent in year on year profit, totalling to some US$11.89 million. During the same period, passenger numbers shot up by 11 per cent to 1.7 million. "The first half is generally the low season for us and this year is no exception. The results are nonetheless fair, driven by modest fuel savings and strong growth on routes to Istanbul, helped by the new codeshare with Turkish Airlines, and on the new routes to Kiev," said Peter Foster, president of Air Astana. The Kazakhstan-based carrier is the only airline in Central Asia that has undergone its third IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and awarded a four-star status. The welcoming news has also in a way, helped to boost the image of Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a safer place to visit, and fly to. In an interview, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister, Asset Issekeshev, said that Kazkhstan will be bringing in the second rebirth of tourism into the country, through a strategic branding plan and some US$9.8 billion investment to spring tourism into the state priority, with the development of transport infrastructure, aviation fuel subsidies and the formation of four new clusters of attractions, coming in top of the list. "We are coming up with Disneyland-like, recreation type developments. We will be having the monorail system; we want to make this development holistic, covering all four clusters," said Issekeshev. www.travelweeklyweb.com Qatar Airways' Boeing 777-300ER fleet The four clusters refer to the Akmola region, reserved as the recreation area, the Mangistau region which will feature the likes of Caspian Riviera, the Almaty region, showcasing ski resorts and the East Kazakhstan area to highlight on the country's natural wonders. "We are keen on building ecotourism as well. We hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games and we are planning to host the university event in 2017, that's why we are building a lot of sports facilities in both Almaty and Astana, of international levels. Certainly, without leaving the cultural event, we have opened the Opera Theatre in Astana. We are expecting a lot of tourists circling around Almaty, and other regions when they visit Kazakhstan," added the deputy prime minister. Resource-rich Kazakhstan has also started works on what it calls the "Modern Great Silk Road"; the international transport corridor that links Western China to Western Europe and is targeted to complete by mid 2015. The total 8,445 kilometre journey covers St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Orenburg, Aktobe, Kyzylorda, Shymkent, Taraz, Kordai, Almaty, Khorgos, Urumchi, Lanzhou, Zhengzhou and Lianyungang. The new Great Silk Road will cut travelling time and costs to an average of 10 days as compared to 45 days via the maritime route of Suez Canal and 14 days along the Trans-Siberian Railway. "During this period, we are expecting the second birth, a revival, the resurrection of tourism to Kazakhstan. Tourism is a state priority, and we are hopeful that in the nearest future, in 2020, we will see Kazakhstan as a key player in tourism and a key destination in the world map," concluded Issekeshev. AUGUST 2013 | TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA ■ | 5

• Cover