ECONOMY
Kazakh companies boost cooperation with Boeing, GE and Pfizer
Astana Times, 25 January 2018
ASTANA – Air Astana, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), SCAT and Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund will be purchasing $2.5 billion in goods and services from such American companies as Boeing, Chevron, GE (General Electric) Digital and GE Transportation. The agreements were made during Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s recent official visit to the United States.
The $1.3-billion agreement between Boeing and Kazakh airlines will support creating 7,100 direct and indirect jobs in the U.S. In particular, SCAT Airlines ordered six Boeing-737 MAX 8 aircraft. Taking into account the planned delivery of the first aircraft in March, they will be the inaugural 737 MAX models owned and operated in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region, expanding SCAT’s regional and international network. In addition, Air Astana has confirmed its commitment, in accordance with the terms of the existing contract, to purchase three 787 Dreamliner aircraft with scheduled delivery in 2021.
GE and KTZ concluded two new strategic initiatives estimated at almost $900 million which will support or create 3,500 American jobs. GE Transport will develop and produce up to 300 shunting locomotives for KTZ which will be delivered in 2019. The company also signed an 18-year agreement to provide services for the maintenance and support of 175 GE Evo passenger locomotives owned by KTZ since 2018. The deal will include expanding KTZ’s main railway production in the Kazakh capital.
Pfizer signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan to possibly implement a project to localise production of secondary packaging of high-tech medical products. If the decision is positive, the project may include measures to improve the cold chain system to transport and store Kazakh medicine.
Kazakhstan and the U.S. recognise the importance of developing trade relations in the agricultural sector and will continue to explore opportunities to expand cooperation, including through joint agricultural research. The study helps both countries work towards achieving broad, safe food security.
Boeing is an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures aircraft, rotorcraft, rockets, and satellites. The company is one of the largest global aircraft manufacturers and is the second-largest defence contractor in the world. It is also considered to be the largest U.S. exporter by dollar value.
GE is a U.S.-based multinational conglomerate operating in aviation, digital technologies, energy connections, scientific research, healthcare, lighting, oil and gas, power engineering, renewable energy, transportation, pharmaceutical, automotive and software development.
Pfizer is an American pharmaceutical corporation considered to be one of the world’s largest in the field. It develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a wide range of medical disciplines, providing them throughout the world.
All restrictions dropped on Kazakh airline flights to EU Astana Times, 25 January 2018
ASTANA – All restrictions have been dropped on Kazakh airline flights to European Union (EU) countries, according to Minister for Investment and Development Zhenis Kassymbek. Five domestic carriers (Air Astana, Comlux, KazAirJet, Prime Aviation and SCAT) are cleared for take-off.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) commission audited aviation security Nov. 22-30, completing a comprehensive check of the airport security system. According to preliminary estimates, ICAO experts note Kazakhstan has made significant progress and serious improvements are expected in the organisation’s rating indicators. The official results will be published by Feb. 1.
“Within the President’s 100 Concrete Steps plan, the transition to the British model of state regulation of the industry is planned (step 68). This will make it possible to meet the requirements of ICAO for the availability of qualified inspectors and achieve the goal of 80 percent in terms of flight safety,” Kassymbek told a recent government meeting.
He added the 72-hour visa-free regime introduced in June during EXPO 2017 for Chinese citizens who transit through the Astana and Almaty airports by Kazakh airlines was recently extended through the end of 2018. To further develop transit potential, a similar regime is being worked out for transit citizens from India.
Kazakh Minister for Investment and Development Zhenis Kassymbek
To date, Kazakhstan has nearly completed modernising the air transport infrastructure, as 15 runways and 11 terminals have been reconstructed in the years since independence. To develop small aircraft, constructing and reconstructing five airfields with a hard surface and 11 aerodromes with ground covering is envisioned.
“In total, Kazakhstan airports serviced 14.2 million passengers in 2017, which is 17 percent more than in 2016 (about 12.2 million passengers). Last year, as part of the execution of the state programme Nurly Zhol, the construction of a new terminal at Nursultan Nazarbayev Airport in Astana was completed, which will allow Astana to be developed as a regional hub in Central Asia,” said Kassymbek.
Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev noted the issue of civil aviation development is very relevant and important. At present, the domestic civil aviation infrastructure has been brought to international standards. He added an 800,000-person increase in passenger traffic is planned for 2018.
Sagintayev instructed the Ministry of Investment and Development together with other interested agencies to consider introducing a 72-hour visa-free regime for Indian citizens. He also directed relevant state bodies to regulate and reduce tariffs for airport service provisions if the action does not contradict domestic antimonopoly legislation. Control over executing the instructions is assigned to First Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin.
Kazakhstan ranks second in ensuring flights safety among CIS states Azernews.az, 23 January 2018
Kazakhstan ranks second in ensuring the safety of flights among the CIS countries, Kazakh Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kasymbek said at government meeting on January 23.
The country is a full-fledged participant of the world aviation market, according to the official.
"In 2016, an ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization] safety audit was conducted and 74 percent of compliance with requirements was confirmed. Today, among the CIS countries, we are the second in this indicator and the 73rd among the countries participating in ICAO. Over the years Air Astana has become the region's leader in aviation transportation. For the last six years, the company ranked first as the best company in Central Asia and India and has one of the youngest aviation parks in the age of 6-8 years. At the same time, we are working towards ensuring that Kazakhstan's aviation meets 80 percent of ICAO requirements by 2020. Thus, it will enter the 51st aviation administration of the world,” he noted.
He informed that according to the results of the last year the growth of air transportation by the Kazakh companies was 21 percent.
“This is the best indicator for all the years of independence. Expo played an important role. Transit of passengers through Kazakhstan grew by almost 30 percent. Freight transportation by air increased by 24 percent,” Kasymbek noted.
The ministry set a task to increase the transit flow through the republic up to 1.6 million passengers, the volume of aviation works - by 30 percent, and to double the volume of cargo transportation by air before 2020, according to the minister.
Earlier, the Civil Aviation Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Investment and Development announced the launch of a number of international flights in Kazakhstan in 2018. Moreover, the committee will conduct 59 certifications and 434 inspections of air transport enterprises in 2018 in order to control the safety of flights.
In 2017, ten new international routes were opened, including by foreign carriers (Finn Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Wizz Air, Air China) in direction of Warsaw, Budapest, Helsinki, Beijing and Batumi as well as Kazakhstan airlines to destinations of Xi'an, Kiev, Minvody, Yerevan and Delhi.
At the same time, 20 flights a week were added to the current flight in eleven destinations, that is to Bishkek, Istanbul, Beijing, London, Seoul, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Omsk, St. Petersburg, and Tashkent.
There have been several crashes including the one on October 3, 2017, that killed five people in Kazakhstan. At the time, an Antonov An-28 ambulance plane fell near Almaty. On August 10, a training aircraft Tecnam 2002 collapsed in the Almaty region and two people were killed.
A similar catastrophe occurred on July 25 as a two-seater private plane crashed. As a result, a pilot was killed and a passenger was injured. Almost a month before that, the Yak-12 aircraft, owned by the airline Kazavia, crashed, and two people died.
Kazakhstan has airports in Shimkent, Atbasar, Karaganda, Kyzyl-Orda, Balkhash, Burundai, Zaisan, Petropavlovsk, Semipalatinsk, Ust-kamenogorsk, Uralsk, Taldy-Kurgan, Kokshetau, Pavlodar, Zhezkazgan, Atyrau, Zhambyl, Zhairem, Ekibastuz, Almaty, Aktau, Kostanay, Aktyubinsk, Arkalyk, and Astana cities.
Kazakhstan's existing airlines are Air Astana, Air Company MEGA, Avia Jaynar, Bek Air, Berkut Air, Euro-Asia Air, Excellent Glide, Irtysh-Air, SCAT, Semeyavia, Zhetysu, and Zhezkazgan Air.
https://www.azernews.az/region/125946.html