ASTANA – Kazakhstan is investing heavily in airports, cargo infrastructure and international connectivity. But the bigger economic question is whether a growing aviation network can generate more than transit income – and become a platform for logistics, exports and higher-value economic activity.
Photo credit: Air Astana.
Building the infrastructure for a regional hub
The government is upgrading aviation infrastructure as part of efforts to strengthen Kazakhstan’s role in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or the Middle Corridor, and as a major Eurasian transit hub. From January to July, the country’s airports handled 102,500 tons of cargo, up 10% year on year. Almaty accounted for 66,100 tons, or more than 64% of the total.
Passenger traffic is also growing. In January-June, Kazakhstan’s airlines carried 7.4 million passengers, up 2.6% compared with the same period last year.
The country is also expanding passenger infrastructure. New terminals in Almaty, Kyzylorda and Shymkent have increased combined annual capacity from 3.5 million to 23 million passengers. Three new airports are being built in the resort areas of Katon-Karagay, Zaisan and Kenderli, with completion planned by the end of this year.
International connectivity is expanding alongside this infrastructure. Under the open skies regime, Kazakhstan now has 135 international routes connecting it with 30 countries. Cargo operators including Cargolux and Cathay Pacific Cargo have expanded operations through Astana, strengthening the country’s position in international freight networks.
Infrastructure alone is not enough
But infrastructure and rising traffic alone do not automatically create a successful aviation hub.
As Civil Aviation Committee Chair Saltanat Tompiyeva told The Astana Times in March, “the long-term sustainability of a hub depends on trust in the system: trust in safety, regulation and predictable rules.” She identified Kazakhstan’s high level of flight safety as a key competitive advantage.
International audits cited by the committee show 82% effective implementation of aviation safety oversight standards and 95.7% compliance with aviation security standards. These institutional conditions matter because airlines and cargo operators need more than runways and terminals. They need predictable regulation, reliable operations and confidence that a transit point can function consistently over time.
From transit flows to domestic value creation
The economic opportunity, however, extends beyond aviation itself.
Financial analyst Rassul Rysmambetov notes that an aviation hub should be understood as a broader economic system, linking airports with roads, railways, warehouses and industries that can add value to goods before they reach export markets.
“The aviation hub is not simply the transportation of someone else’s cargo through Kazakhstan with refueling,” he told The Astana Times, stressing that the main goal should be to create additional value domestically.
For example, agricultural and food products could be processed, packaged or prepared for export near airports, allowing Kazakhstan to capture more of the value generated along the supply chain rather than simply moving foreign goods through the country.
The next test: economic integration
The next stage, therefore, is integration. New terminals, runways and cargo facilities provide the physical foundation, while safety and predictable regulation provide the institutional one. The larger economic payoff will depend on whether these assets attract logistics companies, processors, exporters and related services.
The key indicator will not only be how many passengers and tons of cargo Kazakhstan handles, but how much additional value that traffic creates.
If aviation can be integrated with rail, roads, logistics and domestic production, Kazakhstan’s emerging hubs could evolve from transit facilities into engines of export growth and broader economic development.
