(Read the full article on astanatimes.com)

Turkish Airlines launched flights from Turkistan to Istanbul on May 22, the Astana Times reported, citing the Civil Aviation Committee reports.

The launch of the new route is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence.

Flights will be operated once a week on Saturdays on Boeing 737 aircraft with plans to increase the frequency as the epidemiological situation improves. A round-trip fare starts from 119,500 tenge ($278).

The Turkistan international airport had its first regular flight on Dec.1, 2020 and since then, more than 160 flights have taken off from the airport carrying nearly 47,000 passengers.

The airport performs flights to Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Atyrau, and Istanbul and from the second half of the year, is expected to get connected with Aktau, Aktobe, Karaganda, Kokshetau, Kostanai, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk, Taldykorgan, and Ust-Kamenogorsk with a total frequency of around 50 flights a week.

Starting May 31, Kazakhstan’s low-cost carrier Fly Arystan will launch flights to Bishkek from Kyrgyzstan and considers launching a flight to Tashkent.