Air Astana and China Southern Airlines have signed a joint venture (JV) agreement covering flights between Kazakhstan and China, deepening a relationship that already includes codesharing.
The airlines plan to coordinate schedules, expand their codeshare arrangements and undertake joint marketing. They say closer cooperation will give passengers more flight options, smoother transfers and wider access to destinations across their respective networks.
“China is a strategically important market for Air Astana, and Kazakhstan is well positioned as a gateway connecting Europe and Asia,” Air Astana Vice President for Partnerships and Alliances Richard Ledger says.
The agreement builds on a codeshare partnership announced in June covering 10 routes. Air Astana-operated services included in that arrangement connect Almaty with Beijing Capital, Guangzhou and Urumqi, as well as Astana with Beijing.
China Southern’s codeshare routes include flights to Almaty from Beijing Daxing, Guangzhou, Urumqi and Xi’an, alongside services to Astana from Guangzhou and Urumqi.
The JV comes as travel between Kazakhstan and China grows rapidly. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows airlines are scheduled to offer approximately 862,500 two-way seats during winter 2026-27, up 52.1% from about 567,100 a year earlier. The number of nonstop airport pairs increases from 18 to 22, while scheduled flight sectors rise 51.8% to more than 4,900.
China Southern remains the largest operator in the market, offering approximately 226,900 seats during the season, up 1.1% year over year. Air Astana ranks second with about 204,900 seats, more than double its winter 2025-26 capacity.
Together, the JV partners account for just over half of all scheduled seats. However, their combined share is down from 57.2% a year earlier as rival airlines expand more quickly.
Air China’s capacity increases 112.9% to approximately 136,600 seats, while Air Astana Group subsidiary FlyArystan grows 275% to 132,300. Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines offers about 89,000 seats, up 26.6%.
Air Astana and China Southern overlap directly on only two airport pairs in the current winter schedule: Almaty-Urumqi and Almaty-Guangzhou. The rest of their networks are largely complementary, with the two airlines collectively serving 10 nonstop airport pairs between the countries.
The expansion follows an agreement between the Kazakh and Chinese governments in July to raise the bilateral allowance for scheduled passenger flights by 22.6%, from 124 to 152 per week. The number of Chinese destinations available to airlines serving Kazakhstan was also increased to 11 through the addition of Chongqing.
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