Admission to Trading on the London Stock Exchange

LONDON, UK: Air Astana, the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus regions based on market share, today announced its intention to proceeding with an initial public offering (IPO) of its GDRs and a concurrent offering in Kazakhstan in the form of Shares and GDRs.

Should the Air Astana Group proceed with the IPO and the domestic offer, the offering would be expected to comprise the sale of shares and GDRs held by BAE Systems (Kazakhstan) Limited (BAE) and Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna Joint Stock Company (SK), in addition to new Shares and GDRs issued by the Company.

Air Astana will apply for the admission of the GDRs to the standard listing segment of the Official List of the FCA and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the LSE, and for the admission of the Shares and the GDRs to the official list of the AIX and to trading on the AIX.

Peter Foster, Air Astana Group President and CEO, commented: “The Air Astana Group has achieved remarkable success over the last two decades to become the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Today, we are one of the fastest-growing airline groups in the world with a modern, fuel-efficient fleet, carrying around 8 million customers annually and delivering award-winning levels of service on board our aircraft.  

“As the flagship carrier of Kazakhstan, I am proud of our role in transforming connectivity across the region, a thriving and rapidly developing aviation market with untapped growth potential. Through our full-service airline Air Astana and our low-cost carrier FlyArystan, we operate more routes and serve more destinations than any other airline in our extended home market, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Caucasus and are strategically located to connect with flights across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Over the Air Astana Group’s 20-year history, we have consistently generated profitability through the cycle, culminating in a post-COVID recovery that outstripped global peer averages, delivering Adjusted EBITDAR CAGR of 19.0% between 2019 and 2022. 

Our intention to list in London and Kazakhstan demonstrates the strong foundations of the Air Astana Group and the exciting prospects to increase air travel across our key markets.

We are confident that the initial public offering will accelerate the next stage of growth for the Air Astana Group, and we see significant opportunities to thicken our existing routes and expand into new geographic areas, supported by our continued fleet expansion plan and initiatives to increase operational flexibility.

I would like to thank all our employees for their effort and professionalism in this project, and we look forward to welcoming potential investors as we continue our growth story on the public markets.”

The Company has made an application for the Shares to be admitted to the “Premium” category of the “Shares” sector of the “Main” market of the KASE and will apply for admission to trading on the KASE.

The Air Astana Group is the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus with 69%, 40% and 47% of market share on domestic, intra-regional and international routes from Kazakhstan, respectively (LTM September 2023).

Through its young and modern fleet of 49 aircraft (as at 31 December 2023), it provides scheduled, point-to-point and transit, short-haul and long-haul air travel and cargo on domestic, intra-regional and international routes across Central Asia, the Caucasus, Europe (including Turkey), the Middle East and Asia (including India and China).

In the nine months ended 30 September 2023, the Air Astana Group carried approximately 6.0 million passengers on approximately 41.0 thousand flights on 99 routes across 21 countries, compared to approximately 7.3 million passengers on approximately 52 thousand flights on 88 routes across 16 countries in the year ended 31 December 2022.

The Air Astana Group’s two differentiated but complementary brands (Air Astana, its full-service brand and the flag carrier of Kazakhstan, and FlyArystan, its low-cost carrier (“LCC”) brand) allows the airline to target different customer markets and geographies, providing choice across a range of customer needs and travel purposes.

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