Air Astana, the flag carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has launched a new service linking the capital, Astana to Novosibirsk, an industrial, scientific and cultural city in Siberia, southern Russia. Flights are operated three times a week by Fokker 50 aircraft.

The launch of the new Novosibirsk service is part of Air Astana’s strategic plan to significantly expand its Central Asia network, which has already seen the introduction of new services between Almaty to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan and Urumqi in western China. Additional new routes to other cities in southern Russia including Omsk and Yekatenburg are under consideration.