Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport

Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport[1]

Халықаралық Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев Әуежайы

Halyqaralyq Nūrsūltan Nazarbaev Äuejaiy
Exterior of Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, 26 September 2021
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerMinistry of Industry and Infrastructure Development[3]
OperatorJSC "Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport"
ServesCity of Koshy in Akmola Region and Astana
LocationEsil District, Left Bank, Astana (inside city limits),[4] Kazakhstan
Opened1931; 93 years ago (1931)
Hub for
Focus city for
Operating base for
Built2000–2005
Time zoneKazakhstan Time (UTC+05:00)
Elevation AMSL355 m / 1,165 ft
Coordinates51°01′19″N 071°28′01″E / 51.02194°N 71.46694°E / 51.02194; 71.46694
Websitenn-airport.kz
Maps
NQZ is located in Kazakhstan
NQZ
NQZ
Location in Esil District, Astana, Kazakhstan
NQZ is located in Asia
NQZ
NQZ
NQZ (Asia)
NQZ is located in Eurasia
NQZ
NQZ
NQZ (Eurasia)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 3,500 11,483 Asphalt/concrete
Statistics (2023)
PassengersIncrease ~ 7,500,000
Passenger change 22-23Increase 25%
Ranking in Kazakhstan2nd New entry
Cargo41,233 tons (2019)
Sources: Airport Statistics
AIP Kazakhstan[5]

Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport[a] (IATA: NQZ, ICAO: UACC), alternatively referred by its previous name as Astana International Airport until 2017 (or simply Astana Airport), is the international airport serving Astana, Kazakhstan, the capital and second most populous city in the country. It is the primary aviation hub for northern Kazakhstan. Regionally, it stands as the second-busiest international air passenger gateway into Central Asia after Almaty International Airport (ALA). The airport is also the second-busiest airport in terms of total passenger traffic, air traffic movements and total cargo handled in Kazakhstan, with ~7,500,000 passengers served annually in 2023, a 25% increase compared with 2022, a new passenger record for the airport.[6] On average, the airport handles more than 200 departures a day.[7]

It is located in the Esil administrative subdivision of Astana, 6.5 NM (12.0 km; 7.5 mi) south-east[8] of the city centre. The airport features two passenger terminals and single runway along with cargo and maintenance facilities. The airport's passenger domestic terminal (T2; 2000–05) is a well-known landmark designed by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, who also designed the original terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.[9]

It serves as the secondary large hub for the national flag carrier of Kazakhstan – Air Astana, including its low-cost subsidiary – FlyArystan, the homebase for Qazaq Air, and is the primary operating base for SCAT Airlines and was also formerly a hub for Starlines Kazakhstan and Tselinograd OAO.[10][11] The airport is operated by state-owned JSC "Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport" which also operates Kokshetau Airport in Akmola Region.

The facility was established in 1930 and began operating as a public airport in 1931 as Akmolinsk Airport then, as the city changed its name, renamed as Tselinograd Airport and then as Astana International Airport. The airport was given its current name by the Kazakhstan government in June 2017, in honour of former President of Kazakhstan (1990 – 2019) Nursultan Nazarbayev, under whose presidency it was constructed and inaugurated.[12][13] On 8 June 2020 the airport officially changed its three-character IATA airport code from TSE to NQZ.[14] It has been recognised as the 'Best Regional Airport in Central Asia and CIS' at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2022.[15] The airport provides year-round non-stop flights to airports throughout Kazakhstan and to Central Asia, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Europe, Russia, and China.

  1. ^ "Astana halyqaralyq äuejaiy Elbasy Nūrsūltan Nazarbaevtyñ esımımen atalmaq" [Astana International Airport will be named after President Nursultan Nazarbayev]. Qazaqstan (in Kazakh). 21 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b "UACC - Nursultan Nazabayev Astana International". AC-U-KWIK. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. ^ Nursultan Nazarbayev International. "Сorporate Governance - Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport". nn-airport.kz. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Astana qalasynyñ şekarasyn özgertu turaly" [About changing the boundaries of the city of Astana]. Adilet (in Kazakh). 6 February 2017.
  5. ^ AIP Kazakhstan
  6. ^ "Record: Astana airport welcomed 7.5million passengers". Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport. 25 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Terminals Holding Group to Start Astana Airport Runway Overhaul in March". The Astana Times. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  8. ^ "UACC — ASTANA". AIP Kazakhstan. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  9. ^ "KKAA – Astana International Airport". Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  10. ^ Chua, Alfred (11 October 2019). "Twin hubs 'suboptimal', but necessary: Air Astana chief". FlightGlobal. London.
  11. ^ "Annual Report of Qazaq Air JSC for 2022" (PDF). 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Now Under the Nazarbayev Brand: Astana's Airport". The Diplomat. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Astana halyqaralyq äuejaiyn qaita atau turaly" [About renaming Astana International Airport]. Adilet (in Kazakh). 29 June 2017.
  14. ^ "IATA Special Industry Notification: Change of location code (TSE) for location code (NQZ)". Amadeus Service Hub.
  15. ^ "Kazakh Airlines Increase Flights, Carry Nearly Nine Million Passengers in 2022". The Astana Times. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.


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