OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2013. Latest generation cabin features new seats and entertainment systems in Business and Economy classes

Air Astana has taken delivery of two new Boeing 767-300ERs, which were ordered together with three Boeing 787-8s in February 2012. A third new Boeing 767-300ER will join the fleet in 2014, with the Boeing 787s being delivered between 2017 and 2019.

The new Boeing 767-300ERs feature new seats throughout the cabin, with a 30 Business class / 193 Economy class configuration. New Business class seats provide full lie-flat bed comfort and 15 inch screens for enhanced in-flight entertainment viewing. In Economy class, a new generation of seats feature a 9 inch screen in every seatback, so that all passengers can enjoy a wide range of movies, TV shows and music.

"The arrival of the new Boeing 767s marks another major step in the renewal of the Air Astana fleet, following the delivery of latest generation Airbus and Embraer types over the past two years, " said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana. "With the average age of the fleet now being only six years, Air Astana can rightly claim to operate one of the youngest fleets in the world."

The new Boeing 767s will be used to replace aircraft of the same type on domestic trunk routes from the Almaty, Astana and Atyrau hubs, as well as operating international services to Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

Air Astana commenced regular flight operations on 15 May 2002 and currently operates a network of almost 60 international and domestic routes from hubs in Almaty, Astana and Atyrau. Air Astana operates an all-western fleet of three Boeing 767-300ER, five Boeing 757-200, twelve Airbus A320 family aircraft and seven Embraer E-190. Air Astana became the first carrier from Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern Europe to be awarded the prestigious 4-Star rating by Skytrax in its World Airline Awards 2012 and was named The Best Airline in Central Asia and India. Both accolades were repeated in 2013.

Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund Samruk Kazyna and BAE Systems, with respective shares of 51% and 49%.