Malaysia Airports commences management and operations at Astana International Airport, Kazakhstan

His Excellency Mr Erik Sultanov, Deputy Mayor of Astana City and Mr Abdel Kipshakbayev, President of Astana International Airport represented Astana for the handover ceremony while Malaysia Airports was represented by Dato' Seri Bashir Ahmad, Managing Director of Malaysia Airports. The hand-over ceremony was witnessed by YB Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas, Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr Azat Bekturov, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Communication Kazakhstan, His Excellency Dato' Tan Thai Hing, Malaysian Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Dato' Zakaria Haji Bahari, Secretary General of Ministry of Transport.

Malaysia Airports will immediately focus on developing Astana Airport Business Plan which will include measures in finances, human resources, technical services and operations.

Currently, 13 airlines are operating at Astana Airport, which offers direct links to 12 international cities in 3 continents and 10 domestic destinations. Astana Airport handled a total of 834,299 passengers and 17,212 aircraft movements for the year 2006. For the year 2007, Astana Airport has forecasted the passenger traffic projections to be 964,999 and aircraft movements of 24,821.

The Management Agreement was signed in Apr-07 by Y.Bhg. Dato' Abd. Hamid Mohd Ali, Senior General Manager, Technical Services and Mr Tusupbekov Amirzhan Nurashevich, Director of State Institution, Department of Finance of the Astana Akimat, witnessed by His Excellency Mr Askar Mamin, Mayor of Astana. The Management Agreement enables Malaysia Airports to carry out the operation, management and maintenance of the Astana International Airport, Kazakhstan.

Previously, the Astana International Airport was managed, operated and maintained by the Joint Stock Company International Airport Astana (JSC), a wholly owned company of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Dato' Seri Bashir Ahmad, Managing Director of Malaysia Airports said: "Malaysia Airports is pleased to have entered into this arrangement to provide assistance to Astana Airport". "This is indeed an excellent opportunity to further prove our capability and expertise in managing airports. The management of Astana International Airport will further strengthen the relationship between Kazakhstan and Malaysia. It will also pave the way for Malaysian investment in Kazakhstan", he added.

Malaysia Airports' main task will be to increase the international traffic and to upgrade the operational standards at Astana International Airport in order to meet international standards. In this 10 year-term agreement, Malaysia Airports will be responsible for the management of the airport. Its scope of work, among others will include review and audit of the existing airport operations to increase efficiency and planning for future expansion of the airport, preparation of the business plan, provide personnel to assist and support on matters related to airport services. Malaysia Airports will initially assign three staff to be based in Astana who will be assisting in operations, technical and finance matters. Support from head office will be provided as and when required.

Currently, Malaysia Airports involvement overseas is in the new Hyderabad International Airport and the Delhi Airport in India.