Air Astana, Central Asia’s leading carrier, is looking to expand its Asian network over the next two years following the delivery of a new fleet of Airbus A321LR aircraft. New destinations under consideration include Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. The new A321LRs will also gradually replace the airline’s Boeing 757 aircraft on existing long-haul services to Asian destinations including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. The first aircraft went into service earlier this month.

The Airbus A321LR is a long-range version of A321neo, with increased maximum take-off weight and associated design modifications. The aircraft is configured with 16 Business class seats and 150 Economy class seats.

Air Astana first launched services to Asia in 2002 with flights between Almaty and Beijing , which was followed by Almaty to Bangkok and Seoul in 2003, Almaty to Delhi in 2004,  Almaty to Kuala Lumpur in 2009, Almaty to Urumqi in 2010 and Almaty to Hong Kong in 2012. The airline also operates flights from Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) to Bangkok, Beijing, Delhi and Seoul.