Hong Kong's national carrier Cathay has announced plans to enter the Kazakhstan market. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Cathay plans to launch cargo flights to Astana from August 1 and passenger flights on the Hong Kong-Almaty route from January 2027, according to the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan.
The airline's plans were discussed at a meeting between Saltanat Tompiyeva, Chairperson of the Civil Aviation Committee, and Oliver Coelho, Cathay's Regional Manager for the Middle East.
According to the Ministry of Transport, regular cargo flights to Astana are planned to operate up to five times a week using Boeing-747 aircraft. The airline representative also announced plans to launch regular passenger flights on the Hong Kong-Almaty route from January 2027, operating three times a week on Airbus-330 aircraft.
Tompiyeva confirmed the Kazakh side's readiness to provide necessary assistance in implementing these projects.
Following the meeting, the parties agreed to continue joint work on completing procedures required for launching cargo and passenger flights, as well as to maintain cooperation on developing air links between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.
The Ministry of Transport believes that opening new flights will contribute to the development of trade, economic, and tourism ties, expand logistics capabilities, and strengthen cooperation between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.
Cathay is Hong Kong's national airline and one of Asia's largest international carriers. Including subsidiaries, it operates about 237 aircraft and provides passenger services to over 100 destinations. Cathay Cargo operates regular cargo services to 41 destinations and carries over 1.67 million tons of cargo annually, ranking among the world's leading air cargo operators.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that a new foreign carrier from Armenia, FlyOne Armenia, entered Kazakhstan's aviation market. Since June 12, the airline has been operating direct regular passenger flights on the Yerevan-Almaty route twice a week, increasing the number of flights between Kazakhstan and Armenia from 3 to 5 per week.