# Air Astana posts 20.6% Q3 revenue growth as costs cut profit to $18.5 million > Air Astana grew Q3 2026 revenue 20.6% to $529.1 million, but faster cost growth cut profit to $18.5 million and EBITDAR margin to 20.0%. - Published: 2026-11-12T07:51:50+00:00 - Section: Earnings & Results - Author: News Desk - URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-11-12/air-astana-q3-2026-results - Source: [TradingView](https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2026-11-12:newsml_RSL9134Ca:0-reg-air-astana-jsc-q3-and-9m-2026-results/) ## Key takeaways - Air Astana's Q3 2026 revenue and other income rose 20.6% to $529.1 million from $438.6 million a year earlier. - Unit costs rose 20.0% to 6.95 US cents against a 16.0% rise in unit revenue to 7.48 US cents, cutting EBITDAR margin to 20.0%. - Profit after tax fell 10.3% to $18.5 million, and nine-month profit after tax was -$2.7 million. - Air Astana signed a joint venture agreement with China Southern Airlines on October 30, 2026. [Air](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000mz7/air-astana-airlines) Astana reported third-quarter 2026 revenue and other income of $529.1 million, up 20.6% from $438.6 million a year earlier, while profit after tax fell 10.3% to $18.5 million as costs grew faster than revenue. The Kazakh airline group published the figures on November 12, [TradingView](https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2026-11-12:newsml_RSL9134Ca:0-reg-air-astana-jsc-q3-and-9m-2026-results/) reported. ## Air Astana's Q3 Revenue and Cost Squeeze Revenue growth came with capacity, measured by available seat kilometres, up 4.0% to 7.07 billion and passenger traffic up 2.0% to 5.90 billion. Unit revenue rose 16.0% to 7.48 US cents, while unit cost rose 20.0% to 6.95 US cents. EBITDAR increased 0.4% to $105.6 million, but its margin fell 4.0 percentage points to 20.0%. Group passengers carried rose 0.9% to 3.05 million, and the average load factor slipped to 83.4% from 85.0%. For the nine months to September 30, revenue rose 17.9% to $1,293.0 million and profit after tax was -$2.7 million, against $31.2 million a year earlier. Chief executive Ibrahim Canliel said cost pressures persisted. "There remains some disruption and costs associated with the Pratt & Whitney engine issue, but we had five fewer aircraft grounded in the period versus Q3 last year," he said. Canliel said the group expects zero groundings in peak season 2027. FlyArystan, the group's low-cost brand, posted 33.9% EBITDAR growth and a 3.1 percentage point margin improvement in the quarter. [FlyArystan](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/003ae4w/flyarystan) launched twice-weekly Almaty-Chongqing flights on September 23, its fourth Chinese destination after Urumqi, Yining and Xi'an, Trend reported. ## Air Astana's Fleet and Order Book Air Astana is Kazakhstan's flag carrier, running full-service Air Astana and low-cost FlyArystan from hubs in Almaty and Astana, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The same records list a June 2026 purchase agreement with Airbus worth EUR 7.3 billion for up to 50 A320neo and A321neo aircraft, including 5 A320neo and 20 A321neo firm orders, described as the largest direct order in its 20-year history. The group's fleet stood at 65 aircraft at the end of the quarter, comprising 36 at Air Astana and 29 at FlyArystan, and is targeted to reach 86 aircraft by 2030. ## China Southern Deal and China Capacity On October 30, 2026, Air Astana signed a joint venture agreement with China Southern Airlines, the first airline joint venture between Kazakhstan and China, building on an existing codeshare. Group capacity to China nearly doubled year-on-year in the quarter, rising 99%. Canliel said in November that weekly frequencies to China had risen from 23 to 52 and routes from four to eight cities, with plans to double flights again within one to two years, Devdiscourse reported. ## Wi-Fi Rollout Across the A321LR Fleet Air Astana launched high-speed satellite Wi-Fi on October 29, 2026, with the first equipped Airbus A321LR flying the Almaty-Tashkent route in partnership with SES. The rollout across the A321LR fleet will continue in phases throughout 2027. ## Companies in this story - [Air Astana Airlines company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000mz7/air-astana-airlines) · website: http://www.airastana.com - [FlyArystan company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/003ae4w/flyarystan) · website: https://www.flyarystan.com - [China Southern Airlines Company company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0003ewp/china-southern-airlines-company) · website: http://csair.com/us/en --- News for Agent · https://newsforagent.com/llms.txt