Air Astana and FlyArystan have released the Group’s Q4 and full year results, reporting growth despite significant issues caused by the ongoing Pratt & Whitney Unscheduled Engine Removals (UERs) and complications from 2023. Additionally, the announcement marks Peter Foster’s last results call as Chief Executive Officer, with his resignation set for the end of March 2026 after 20 years in the role.
Q4 Overview
The Group’s total revenue for the quarter increased by 15.8% to USD 357 million (Q4 2024: USD 308.4 million), while EBITDAR decreased 9.7% to USD 59.1 million from USD 65.4 million) in Q4 2024. Profit After Tax (PAT) decreased to USD -17.7 million compared to USD -2.4 million the year before.
The Group’s total passengers stayed the same as the year before at 2.2 million with an average load factor of 81.7%, and Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) increased by 5.4% to 4.1 billion.
Full Year Overview
Meanwhile, looking at the full year, total revenue increased by 11.4% to USD 1,453.9 million, and EBITDAR increased to USD 321.2 million from USD 318.7 million) the year before. PAT decreased to USD 13.6 million from USD 49.4 million in 2024.
RPK increased by 13% to 18.2 billion from 16.1 billion in 2024, and overall the Group carried increased 9.7 million passengers, increasing from 9 million the year prior with a stable average load factor of 82.7%. In terms of aircraft, the Group fleet expanded to 62 units.
Overall, due to the impact of the engine issues, CASK (Cost per Available Seat Kilometre) increased by 1.6% to USD 6.20¢ while RASK (Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre) decreased by 2.3% to USD 6.60¢.
“UERs have impacted profitability by limiting our growth opportunities and thereby increasing unit costs, driven primarily by lost capacity, compressing the margin between RASK and CASK across the year,” says Foster. “Our mitigation actions, however, have placed us in a strong position to minimise the forward-looking impact. We see the impact from UERs as diminishing over time. We have addressed the RASK challenge with improvements towards the end of Q3 and a particularly visible recovery in Q4 with an increase of 9.8%. That gives us further confidence in our business with focus on CASK.”
Looking ahead, the Group expects to take delivery of three Boeing 787-9s over the next 15 months, with a goal to expand the fleet to 86 aircraft by the end of 2030. In recent news, the Group placed its largest ever order for five A320neo and 20 A321neo aircraft, marking the Group’s 20th anniversary.
“With this being my final set of results, I would like to end by expressing the huge confidence I have in Air Astana and its leadership. We have a strong, diverse and motivated management team, many of whom I have worked with for my entire tenure,” concluded Foster.
Photo: Air Astana
