ASTANA, Kazakhstan, December 2. The Kazakhstan Ministry of Transport has upgraded the "open skies" regime in collaboration with the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition in order to increase the attractiveness of the Kazakh air transportation sector, Trend reports.
Thus, the Ministry of Transport's decree implementing the "open skies" regime has been modified.
This amendment eliminates the previously existing restriction providing foreign airlines the right to use the fifth degree of "freedom of air" exclusively in directions where Kazakh carriers do not operate.
As a result, foreign airlines now have the right to operate flights to a variety of airports in Kazakhstan with no restrictions on frequency or aircraft type, including the fifth degree of "freedom of air" with no route restrictions.
According to the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Transport, this measure is intended to increase competition in the business and, in the future, will help to reduce the cost of airline tickets, improve service, and extend flight geography.
The "open skies" regime in Kazakhstan operates at the airports of Astana, Almaty, Aktau, Aktobe, Karaganda, Kokshetau, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk, Semey, Taraz, Turkestan, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Shymkent.