Air Astana half-year results 2026: revenue rises but costs erase profit

Air Astana JSC has reported strong revenue growth for the second quarter and first half of 2026, helped by disciplined pricing and a shift towards international routes.

However, the extra revenue did not translate into higher profit. Fuel, staffing, maintenance and aircraft ownership costs rose sharply, while ongoing problems with Pratt & Whitney engines continued to restrict capacity.

The result was a near break-even second quarter and a USD 21.2 million loss after tax for the first half.

Air Astana's key figures

Metric	Q2 2026	Year-on-year change	H1 2026	Year-on-year change
Revenue and other income	USD 433.0 million	+18.3%	USD 763.9 million	+16.1%
Passengers	2.45 million	-1.7%	4.39 million	-2.4%
Load factor	81.6%	-0.2 percentage points	82.4%	+0.7 percentage points
EBITDAR	USD 93.6 million	-3.7%	USD 141.7 million	-9.7%
EBITDAR margin	21.6%	-4.9 percentage points	18.6%	-5.3 percentage points
Profit after tax	USD -0.1 million	Down from USD 18.0 million	USD -21.2 million	Down from USD 10.7 million
RASK	7.78 US cents	+18.5%	7.43 US cents	+15.8%
CASK	7.29 US cents	+24.3%	7.30 US cents	+22.2%

EBITDAR is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and aircraft rental costs. Airlines use it as a measure of underlying operating performance, although it is not an IFRS accounting measure.

Strong pricing did the heavy lifting

The most encouraging part of the announcement is that Air Astana generated 18.3% second-quarter revenue growth despite broadly unchanged capacity.

Available seat kilometres, or ASK, measure the number of seats offered multiplied by the distance flown. Group ASK fell 0.2% in Q2, while passengers carried declined 1.7%.

Revenue per available seat kilometre, known as RASK, nevertheless rose 18.5% to 7.78 US cents. That suggests the group extracted considerably more revenue from each unit of capacity.

Management attributed the improvement to disciplined pricing and the planned reallocation of aircraft towards higher-margin international routes. International traffic measured by revenue passenger kilometres rose 5.5% in Q2, while domestic traffic declined 7.2%.

FlyArystan, the group's low-cost brand, also contributed to the international expansion and recorded standalone RASK growth of 21.4%.

This is important because it shows that the group's network strategy is producing commercial benefits even before capacity returns to normal.

Costs remain the central problem

The difficulty is that unit costs rose even faster than unit revenue.

Cost per available seat kilometre, or CASK, increased 24.3% to 7.29 US cents in Q2. That was 5.8 percentage points faster than RASK growth, narrowing the gap between unit revenue and unit cost to 0.49 US cents.

The pressure came from several directions. Air Astana reported a 98% year-on-year increase in the average fuel price paid at international stations during Q2. The Kazakh tenge also strengthened by 7% against the US dollar, increasing the dollar value of some local costs.

Employee, aircraft ownership, engineering and maintenance expenses rose too. With capacity broadly stable, these higher costs had to be spread across a largely unchanged production base.

That explains why Q2 revenue rose by USD 67.2 million but EBITDAR still fell 3.7%. The EBITDAR margin dropped from 26.5% to 21.6%, while profit after tax declined from USD 18.0 million to a USD 0.1 million loss.

For the first half, the margin deterioration was more pronounced. EBITDAR fell 9.7% and the group moved from a USD 10.7 million profit to a USD 21.2 million loss.

Pratt & Whitney outlook reaches an inflection point

Engine availability has been a major drag on Air Astana's capacity and profitability. Much of its Airbus A320-family fleet uses Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines affected by manufacturing and durability issues.

There are signs that this problem is becoming more manageable.

The group secured 11 additional engines during the first half. It also reported faster engine turnaround times, improved component life and better visibility over future maintenance inductions.

Aircraft groundings are now around 60% lower than in the equivalent period last year. Management expects zero aircraft-on-ground during the summer 2027 peak.

If delivered, that could allow Air Astana to spread labour, ownership and maintenance costs over more flying capacity. It would not remove inflation or fuel-price risk, but it could ease one of the most company-specific pressures on unit costs.

Investors should still treat this as an expectation rather than a completed recovery. The second-quarter figures show that the engine issue continues to affect current profitability.

International expansion continues

China is the largest area of international expansion. Q2 capacity to the country increased 81% year on year, with up to 51 weekly services to seven destinations and nine destinations expected by the end of 2026.

The group also increased connectivity with India, Europe, Turkey, Central Asia and the Caucasus. International connecting traffic rose 82% in Q2, supporting Air Astana's ambition to develop Almaty and Astana as regional aviation hubs.

The fleet stood at 63 aircraft at the end of June, up from 61 a year earlier. Air Astana expects this to reach 86 aircraft by 2030, comprising 83 Airbus A320-family aircraft and three Boeing 787-9s. The first 787-9 is expected later in 2026.

This expansion creates a route to longer-term growth, but it also requires investment at a time when operating cash generation is under pressure.

Liquidity is solid, although leverage has increased

Cash and cash equivalents stood at USD 481.5 million at the end of June, down 9.4% year on year. The cash-to-sales ratio declined from 38.5% to 30.9%.

Net debt to EBITDAR increased from 1.3 times to 2.1 times, reflecting weaker operating cash generation and continued fleet investment.

Management said these figures remain comfortably within its medium-term targets, which include liquidity above 25% and leverage below 3.0 times net debt to EBITDAR.

The balance sheet therefore provides some flexibility, but the direction of travel deserves attention if profitability remains under pressure.

What investors should watch next

Air Astana has maintained its medium-term ambitions. It aims to lift its EBITDAR margin into the mid-to-high 20s, expand the fleet to 86 aircraft by 2030 and keep load factors in the low-to-mid 80s.

Near-term guidance is more cautious. Management expects inflationary cost pressures to persist and offset some revenue growth, while capacity will be realigned to protect margins.

The investment case now rests on whether strong international demand and pricing can combine with improving engine availability to restore operating leverage. Revenue momentum is clearly positive, but the first-half loss shows that cost control and capacity recovery remain the decisive issues.

The next useful signals will be the pace of aircraft returning to service, the relationship between RASK and CASK, and whether leverage stabilises as fleet investment continues.

The full figures and management commentary are available in the original company announcement.