Air Astana has been acting as some sort of a connecting chain between India and Kazakhstan and has become a popular airline in both countries among tourists and business visitors alike. Mr. Richard Ledger, Director (Sales) of Air Astana spoke to Outbound International and highlighted his target areas for the future.

What steps are being taken to promote Kazakh Tourism?
We are taking a lot of steps to promote tourism in Kazakhstan. We are pondering upon a program called 'Air Astana Holidays' that is planned to be launched by the 1st quarter of 2010. That is to be marketed by our officers the world over. That includes Pick up- drop facility, 2-3 days’ stay, ½ and half day’s sight seeing and prepaid hotel accommodation.

Where does India stand in your plans?
So far as India is concerned, we are concentrating to market MICE segment. Traditionally we are very strong in transporting Gas and Pharmaceuticals and have three days service in a week. We are planning to put proposal to corporate sector to sell Kazakh market and also organize incentive tours.

How you are going to catch MICE well?
To catch MICE well, we have set a sophisticated revenue management system so as to clearly identify when flights are not full and have capacity. By this we can ask our Delhi offices to come up with attractive packages especially for those days when we are not going to do well.

Tell us something about your activities in India.
The good thing about MICE is that they look to new destinations every time. We are also participating in fairs in India, especially the Indo-Kazakh tourism fair which was started by you in October 2006. We have got very good strength in our fleet of Airbuses and Aircrafts like 276, 390, 320 and 321 in which last two have full business class. It is through our efficient management of Air Astana. We are expecting as many as 30,000 passengers per year even in hard times of recession.