Shymkent International Airport

Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines will launch the first direct air link between Kazakhstan and Singapore, with a twice-weekly service via China’s Hainan island.

Routes to New Delhi and Dushanbe are being launched by Air Astana’s LCC subsidiary FlyArystan.

The expansion indicates the carriers are not concerned by complaints from the likes of Spirit Airlines.

SCAT Airlines is targeting leisure demand to Ras Al Khaimah from eight cities in Kazakhstan.

A weekly round-up of the latest news from the aviation industry as airlines and airports seek to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

This week: Air Astana’s new low-fare unit FlyArystan set to expand its network; Lucky Air to serve second point in Russia; and Air Italy to resume service to the Maldives.

flydubai will become the first carrier to operate direct flights from Dubai to both Sarajevo and Zagreb. It will introduce a twice weekly link to Sarajevo from December 8, 2014, while a three times weekly offering to Zagreb will follow from December 16, 2014. Both routes will be served by its dual-class 737-800s.