“Astana is very impressive, like a capital of an empire, with large avenues, big monuments and modern architecture”
class shopping’ , the building resembles a lopsided circus tent from the outside, while inside features include a miniature monorail and even a beach. Everywhere you look, the design is big, garish and shiny, with Dubai-style archi- tecture rising from the northern steppe. The presidential palace is an over-sized White House, topped with a spired, blue- and-gold dome. Another Foster landmark is the US$58 million Palace of Peace and Accord. The building, made up of five storeys of triangular glass, was specifically designed to host a major congress this year. The complex is designed to accommodate large events, with the opera hall seating 1,500 people, as well as conference and banqueting halls. Wings’ East sees Astana’s architecture as an attraction for the country. “Astana is very impressive, like a capital of an empire. Large avenues, big monuments, modern architecture, a lot of space and big shopping malls with major international brands,” he says. “This is also the general overview we have received from clients, and doing business there will only become easier over time as a more stable environment evolves.” Almaty has a more Soviet-style feel than
Astana. It may have lost its capital status but the city, located close to the Chinese border, is the larger of the two and chief conduit for the oil, gas and mineral resources. Major hotels chains, such as Inter- continental, Ritz-Carlton and Holiday Inn,
can accommodate for small
meetings and larger events. The convention centre in the Saltanat WorldHotel has a spacious ballroom for up to 1,000 people and the Green Ballroom offers space for a further 300.
Both cities are undergoing significant
transformation, and this can only be positive for the country’s future. Wings’ East adds: “As the economy grows so does the country. And with more and more com- panies entering Kazakhstan and starting to do business, it is putting itself on the world map.”
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
IN CONVERSATION…
Peter Foster BBT talks to Peter Foster, CEO of Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, Air Astana
What challenges do you have? We pioneered the whole concept of e- commerce in this region. The problem we have got here is the banking system is quite restricted. Credit cards have a pretty low penetration, most people operate on the basis of debit cards, and banks remain rather reluc- tant to allow those account holders to use the debit cards for online retail.
Peter Foster
What is Air Astana’s strategy for future growth? We’ve exceeded expectations in terms of growth, quality and reputa- tion and what we were hoping to achieve. Looking forward, we see Air Astana’s positioning as the carrier of first choice for all of central Asia. We seek to develop our extended home market to all the neighbouring countries, as well as, of course, routes within Kazakhstan, to feed business between those points and from and to our long-haul network – Europe, India, the Gulf and Asia. We would like to see a lot more expansion to China, as we see sig- nificant potential here. New routes to Singapore could also be possibility in the future, as well as flights to Tokyo.
Within the region, low-cost carriers (LCCs) are important – do you have any plans to launch an LCC, and are you concerned someone else will? I believe we are already a LCC. I think there’s a lot of confusion on this subject. There is a difference between LCCs and no-frills carriers – we are not going to have aircraft configured to a 28-inch seat pitch with no food and drink offering, because many of our flights are long-haul. I think it’s been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the concept of long-haul low-cost just doesn’t work. The key is efficiency and we are one of the most efficient airlines in the world – our unit cost is significantly lower than the likes of Easyjet.
What’s your take on the debate about global distribution systems? We very much support the drive to reduce that element of cost, because you’ve got some very large, dominant suppliers operating at very high margins in a market where the ultimate customer is the airline. Airlines currently have limited control over the price and costs of that element of the supply chain. Every time you sell through direct online channels you are saving the GDS transaction cost, so clearly an airline like ours would like to reduce its dependency on distribution booking tools.
You say around 90 per cent of your your revenue comes via travel agents – is there a danger of damaging those relationships? The whole debate with regards to agents is very clear – they will survive and prosper if they can add value, through their corporate relationships and the work they do as sub-contract- ed travel managers for companies. Travel agents that are just order-takers simply don’t have a future.
You are not a member of an alliance – do you have any plans to join one? We believe in organic growth, that’s our main aim. We have three very effective codeshares – Turkish Airlines, Asiana and Etihad. They are very effective; the problem is if you join an alliance there is a primary obligation to do codeshares with the airlines in that alliance. We don’t want to be constrained by that limitation, so we believe more in bilateral relationships than alliances.
BBT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015 119
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