slingsby

B767 (x2) to be used on AMS-GUW-ALA / FRA-TSE / FRA-ALA to start with
B757 (x4/5) regular routes supplementing / augmenting B767 routes IST/BKK/BJS/SEL/FRA/LHR/HAJ/FRA/AMS to mention a few
A320 (x4/5)mid haul routes DXB / MOW / DEL / IST / intra KZ and subsequently augmenting mid-haul Euro routes sub 4 hour legs (ie ALA-GUW-AMS vv)
A321 (x2/3) to supplement B757 routes
B737NG (x4)to be phased out, crews to go on line conversion to B757/B767
F50 (x4) intra KZ and local/regional routes
Next purchase / options are the A330 maybe later this year or next year, depending on traffic planning
Long term investment may be towards the B787.

Fly4Fun

Hi guys and gals

Do you know if Air Astana have any layover (or night stop) on the A320 fleet?

Thanks to all

Happy landings

slingsby

Yes, the A320 do have lay-overs, much more coming as the fleet and routes change.

foxmustang

Hi
>Do any body can give more information on A320 roster, livining conditions etc. DIP contract is 6 months with extensions. Can you expect more than six months? Are there extra hours?
Thank you

ka3ax

Hi guys!
I'm a fresh pilot just got my COM and was interested to work in Kazakhstan, home town =). But i don't know if there is a need for pilots on F50s, or anything with wings and engines =), at Air Astana and what they offer? From what i have heard it could just be better to stay here and contract for while and fly a c208.


Arthur

Oosik

Any fair-haired western lads working for Astana? What's the expected cost and availablilty of living expenses for an single lad working for Astana and living there? Will 1000 euros cover it, or will living expense be much more.

What are the negative aspects of living and working there? DPI tells me there is a large cadre of western lads at Astana...any fellow pilots care to pm me and discuss the issues?

7Q Off

Just curious, what does class 1 or class 2 aircraft mean for Air Astrana minimum requirements?

Thanks

ausflyer

Can anyone offer an update on the interview/tech quiz/sim profile for the Airbus 320 interview pls?
Thank you in advance to anyone that has time to respond,

Aus'

m.s.r.l.p.

Any fresh news from air astana ???? And Direct personnel contract ???
any news here more then 6 months.......
c'mon .....

KRUGERFLAP

Next Screening Late September in AMS

PM me for DPI contract (12 months contract)

The basics

Captains A320 : 6000 Euros - Net Salary (80 h/ month)
Copilots A320: 4000 Euros - " " (" " )

5 star Hyatt Almata for stay

Roster 5 days on 2 days off

Cheers,

KF

Rubis

Large number of expats, but just like India, Saudi, and others. You're the Black Sheep and your F/O's conveniently forget how to speak english when they don't want to talk with you.

Op's in Almaty is better than in Astana where you are basically on your own. KZ F-50 capt's upgrade to A320 F/O's and forget they are no longer a Capt. You have to deal with them using the sword or they walk on you. Can't trust them for one minute. They games they paly.

Company is in somewhat disarray, Wanting to be World Air Line and will be someday, but lots of missing areas in operation. Getting better though.

Cops in Astana stop you and hassel you for "under the table" money. Have had my papers taken from me and had to pay to get them back. No protection for expat. Hotel is nice, but every now and then you come in from trip and find your belongings moved to another room or stuffed in a bag in storage. Everything is very high priced unless you head out on the street, then you have to look for cops. Don't take taxi unless it is prearranged or you speak local lingo. Never travel outside alone or you are meat for the cops. Almaty is different. Many expats in Astana, but all agree you are not wanted here by locals.

It's been good experience, but I look forward to the day I leave. Be real careful about you you choose for a recruiter, because they are the one's that enforce your contract. If you can't trust them to come through, you are basically on your own here with little protection.

Boeing Pilots have it better than Airbus.

Think very hard about this one.

yowdude

whoa! that bad? looked like a beautiful place though...

express315

Hi all,
I was surprised to see a thread about Air Astana for the first time in a while. I used to be a local pilot at Air Astana and Almaty was my
home city. Well, this is not the case anymore. I chose an expat pilot path
for myself.
Generally speaking there are two main reasons the one wants to become
an expat pilot - whether you are desperate for money or you are looking
for an adventure. In both cases you agree to sacrifice the luxery of staying at home for something else, name it money, carreer, life experiences etc. But let's be honest if you are happy where you are ,
I mean staying at home, having a job you like and being paid enough
for it - then what is the reason to move to some exotic places far from
your home?
I left Air Astana due to simple reason - I was severely underpaid for doing
the same job as expats did. To be precise I was getting at least 5 times less than you guys get when I was flying PIC on B737NG for Air Astana.
This explains well why the local pilots will never ever like you. But if you
can live with it you will probably enjoy working for Air Astana and living in
Almaty.
So, I decided to become an expat pilot too and I discovered quickly that
I am not any worse or better. I am just the same expat pilot as many others around me and I am getting paid equally and I feel good about it.
I suspect the indians I am working with now probably hate me being here
too, but I can live with it knowing that they are being paid the same as mine for the same job.
Actually there is one thing I was curious about that made me writing here.
I can see so many expats coming to India agreeing to tolerate all the sh#t here for the good bucks (or relatively good?).In my opinion this country is a complete disaster.
At the same time so many of you are afraid of coming to Almaty which is a far far better place to visit, to work and may be to live too.
(P.S. I live in Canada now.)

Good luck to you all!

Rubis

This is true, Local KZ pilots are notoriously underpaid. The expats make two or three times what the locals folks make. There is a bit of a burr between the two groups, but it is somewhat transparent. I tell the locals to either organize or become expats themselves. They are a dedicated lot and want to be at home and fly their native flag, can't blame them...I'd like to do that also. But until one of the two options occur, they will always be underpaid. For the most part, off the job they are a good lot. Enjoyed my time here, far better than India or Afrika. But...I'm ready to move on.

batman767

Hi guys,

I got a date for simulator screening for Astana two weeks before.
It was held at LGW (Crawley) for 757/767 unfortunately at night

The profile wasn't too difficult. Hand flown visual circuit (no AT, no FD), engine failure after V1, one eng inoperative approach (hand flown), two eng NDB app, and some faliures during flight to see how can u handle the QRH and generally normal and non normal procedures.

Hotel payed by Astana.

Rubis

Hey Bat Guy....

If u end up in Alamaty, number one rule....Leyla knows everything. Take really good care of her and life will be good to u. Oh yea, tell her from me ....she's still the "still the best lookin gal in town".

Payed, I.E.- PAID

Yea, I know, it's really anal....but the USAF did it to me.

veloo maniam

Hope someone can help me out from Air Astana.
Would like to know the number of pax from Kuala Lumpur to Astana via Bangkok for the year 2007 i.e up to whatever the latest date is.
Greatly appreciate any links. Many thanks.

batman767

Who the f.ck is Leyla??

AlexSantisteban

Hi all...

I am supposed to start with Air Astana in about three weeks. A FO sent me an e-mail with a warning of a high radioactive exposure in the city of Atyrau, one of the cities operated by Air Astana. Does anybody know anything about this? I supposed that air Astana would deny anything about that.

Cheers and stay safe in 2008

Aksai Oiler

The company I worked for had monitoring equipment in Atyrau and I am not aware of any "high radioactive" risk. Additionally I wore a dosimeter most of the time - and results indicated that during my time in Kazakhstan (7 years) I had a normal exposure to Radiation - similar to what I would have recieved in the UK.
In Atyrau KC air crew are normally stationed (I believe) in the Renaissance Hotel, within walking distance of where I lived for the last two years (until September).. In other areas of Kazakhstan (well away from Airports) there is the potential for some risk as the Soviets utilised nuclear devices for not only weapons but also for engineering projects such as natural gas storage - in Western Kazakhstan and Atyrau Oblast. Oblast = Region. If you want to learn more - in Russian - http://lira.inp.kz
Recently I have read a distict amount of scare mongering regarding life in Kazakhstan. I stayed 7 years and survived - I would return to Almaty any day, life for KC pilots in the Hyatt is so hard .... Kazakhstan is a "new" country trying to get on it's feet. It's in a lot better shape than any of the other former Soviet satellite states - but you still need to take care, as in any location in the world, including for example London, it's easy to get mugged if you flash your cash around.