Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5
By Nigar Guliyeva - Trend:
The introduction of 'open skies' regime at the Almaty airport is being discussed in Kazakhstan, said Timur Duysengaliev, deputy chairman of the board of directors of the Kazakh Tourism JSC.
"We are currently negotiating with the government of Kazakhstan to open 'open skies' regime at the Almaty airport. Speaking about the development of tourism in Kazakhstan, we must first of all understand that there are so-called growth points that will serve as the anchor points - the starting point for traveling to Kazakhstan, "Duisengaliyev said at a press conference Dec.5.
He noted that at present in Kazakhstan there are "in fact, two starting points" - Almaty and Astana .The "open sky" regime was applied at the time of the international specialized exhibition EXPO-2017 in the capital of Kazakhstan. This experience, according to experts, was positive.
Duysengaliev said that currently there is a question regarding great competition for the national carrier in case the 'open skies' regime applied.
He explained that at the moment, Kazakh Tourism is working on the issue of cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the aim of researching and analyzing the prospects of the Kazakhstan air transport communication until 2030.
"For Kazakhstan, as a very large country with a significant transit potential, it is very important to learn how to make the republic accessible in terms of air traffic, to forecast potential flows that will allow us to get a certain share of the "pie" , that is, the world tourism. And in this regard, in principle, we agreed that IATA will prepare this analytical review for Kazakh Tourism, which will allow us to build a long-term policy in terms of developing air communication, " Duysengaliev said.