Air Astana's (LSE:AIRA) chief financial officer Gonçalo Pires joined Proactive to discuss the airline's growth strategy, first-quarter performance and the opportunities emerging across the Central Asian aviation market.
He also outlined how fleet expansion, the dual-brand strategy with FlyArystan and ongoing operational challenges are shaping the company's priorities.
Watch the video interview and read the full Q&A below.
Proactive: For investors who may be new to Air Astana (LSE:AIRA), what makes the airline stand out and why has it become the leading carrier in Central Asia?
Gonçalo Pires: The company has become the regional leader through the work of the past 24 years, building a strong airline with a leading product in terms of size, quality and service. Looking ahead, Air Astana's greatest advantage is the scale of its opportunity. Its location places it close to around 50% of the world's population, providing significant growth potential. The company aims to strengthen its hub in Almaty and Kazakhstan, invest in additional aircraft and connect more passengers between Central Asia and the rest of the world.
Proactive: Your first-half results are due next month, but first-quarter results were strong despite ongoing supply chain issues. What drove that performance?
Gonçalo Pires: The first quarter demonstrated the company's pricing power together with its agility and resilience. Air Astana adapted quickly to geopolitical disruptions by changing routes and capturing new passenger flows between Southeast Asia, Europe and Central Asia. However, challenges remain, including industry disruption and the Pratt & Whitney engine issues that continue to affect aircraft availability and growth plans.
Proactive: How is fleet expansion translating into higher revenues and profitability?
Gonçalo Pires: Scale is essential in aviation. Expanding capacity allows costs to be diluted and supports stronger profitability. Management's focus is to resolve aircraft availability issues so more capacity can be deployed during the remainder of this year and into 2027, while continuing to invest in aircraft for long-term growth.
Proactive: Air Astana continues to expand internationally while also growing FlyArystan. How do the two businesses work together?
Gonçalo Pires: The dual-brand strategy was deliberately designed for a rapidly growing but still underdeveloped aviation market. FlyArystan provides affordable entry-level fares, encouraging first-time travellers and developing the domestic market. This creates additional passenger volumes that support Air Astana's full-service international network and hub development.
Proactive: What should investors watch over the next 12 months?
Gonçalo Pires: Cost management remains a major priority alongside increasing capacity to improve economies of scale. The company is also focused on resolving the Pratt & Whitney engine issues through ongoing negotiations as quickly as possible.
