Kazakhstan and Airbus have signed an agreement for the supply of A320neo aircraft, which also includes the expansion of their aviation cooperation. These events took place in Paris during the meetings of the Kazakhstan-French Business Council and the 16th Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, reports KGA.
In particular, the Vice Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan, Talgat Lastayev, met with Airbus Vice President Sharbel Yuzkatli, where a memorandum was signed for the supply of 25 initial aircraft with the option to increase by another 25. The delivery timelines, scheduled for 2031, and the possibility of accelerating them were also discussed.
Additionally, Lastayev raised topics regarding the establishment of a joint aviation training center with Airbus and the organization of aircraft leasing. During the meeting, the parties also considered cooperation with international partners, including TAV Airports for the modernization of Kazakhstan's airports and Alstom in the field of industrial cooperation.
As part of improving transportation links between the countries, the participants discussed the possibility of resuming the Paris – Astana flight and opening a new route from Shymkent to Nice.
On November 28, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency directive regarding airworthiness following an incident involving an Airbus A320 related to a brief failure of the elevator during autopilot operation. The issue affected approximately 6,000 aircraft worldwide.
The directive was mandatory: all operators of Airbus A319/A320/A321 family aircraft were required to replace or modify the software of the elevator control units before the next flight in accordance with Airbus's instructions. As a result, flights of Airbus aircraft operated by Air Astana and FlyArystan were delayed for updates to ensure safety.
By the evening of November 29, Air Astana engineers completed the software updates on 38 Airbus aircraft, and the group airlines returned to their planned flight schedules.
