Air Astana, the flag carrier of Kazakhstan, recently opened a direct flight route from Almaty — the country's largest city and a key industrial hub — to a major Chinese city, playing a vital role in advancing the already close economic relations between China and the Central Asian nation.

The direct nonstop flight, connecting Almaty with Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province, was launched in March. It is the airline's fifth direct flight to the Chinese mainland, preceded by one flight to Sanya in Hainan province, one to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and two flights to Beijing.

Following the launch of the new route from Almaty International Airport to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, along with several other newly added flights on its old routes, Air Astana now has 23 flights to China each week.

Historically, Kazakhstan was a major hub on China's ancient Silk Road and is currently an important participant in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

China and Kazakhstan adopted mutual visa exemption policies in November 2023, with the maximum duration of stay being 30 days, to strengthen cultural exchanges and economic and trade cooperation.

Kuanysh Amantay, minister counselor of the Kazakh embassy in China, said that bilateral trade has grown rapidly, increasing 6 percent annually over the past few years and reaching a record high of $43.8 billion in 2024.

"The investment cooperation of the two countries has been very close. Chinese investment in Kazakstan has reached $25 billion," he said, adding that cargo volume has increased more than 20 percent annually in recent years.

Peter Foster, CEO of Air Astana, said at a recent news conference in Guangzhou that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area "is one of the fastest-growing industrial regions in the world, and there has already been a lot of business travel between the GBA and Kazakhstan".

With the flight to Guangzhou, Air Astana hopes to help further develop Kazakhstan's ties with the prosperous Greater Bay Area, he added.

The airline used an Airbus A321LR aircraft for the first flight on the Almaty-Guangzhou route, which was inaugurated at the end of March, and it logged a flight time of 5 hours and 22 minutes. The aircraft model is used on most operating routes between China and Kazakhstan, and the interiors of the planes are designed with elements from Kazakh culture.

Foster said that China has long been a strategically important market for Air Astana, which has seen strong growth in business and leisure passenger traffic since it began service between Almaty and Beijing more than 20 years ago.

"The inaugural route to Guangzhou marks a very important step for Air Astana in expanding its network in the vast Chinese market," he said.

Islam Sekerbekov, Air Astana's senior regional manager for China and Mongolia, said the flight to Guangzhou will further promote cooperation and development in areas such as economy, trade, commerce, investment and cultural tourism, and help build up the "Air Silk Road" for close exchanges between China and Kazakhstan.

Guan Jian, director of communications at GZL International Travel Service in Guangdong, said that with the launch of the new direct flight route and the implementation of the mutual visa exemption agreement, the development of Central Asian tourism will be promising in the following months.

"The new flight route is greatly facilitating passenger travel," Guan said.

Bilateral economic and trade cooperation between Kazakhstan and China has seen steady development, while tourism and cultural exchanges have become increasingly close between the two friendly neighbors, said Sekerbekov, the airline's senior regional manager.

Air Astana has been collaborating with major stakeholders to promote Kazakhstan as a key travel destination. FlyArystan, a low-cost carrier and a subsidiary of Air Astana, recently launched a direct flight from Almaty to Yining in Xinjiang.

The first flight, with 180 passengers on board, landed at Yili Yining International Airport in mid-May. The trip took 55 minutes, fulfilling the promise of a one-hour air corridor between China and Kazakhstan and opening a new chapter in connectivity with Xinjiang.

The Almaty-Yining route is the second international route opened by FlyArystan to China. The airline reopened its Astana-Urumqi route on April 13, marking an important step in the expansion of its network and in the improvement of aviation services in Kazakhstan, said Richard Ledger, president and CEO of FlyArystan.