Almaty International Airport

Almaty International Airport (ALA) is the busiest airport in Kazakhstan and in all of Central Asia, outranking the capital's Astana/Nursultan airport by both passenger volume and international connectivity. Serving Almaty — Kazakhstan's largest city and former capital of roughly 2 million people — ALA is the principal hub of flag carrier Air Astana and low-cost subsidiary FlyArystan, and it functions as the gateway to the Tien Shan mountains and the Silk Road corridor. Passenger traffic has exceeded 9 million in recent years, placing ALA firmly in the top tier of CIS airports. ALA sits on the eastern edge of Almaty, about 15 km (9 mi) from the city center, at an elevation of 2,234 ft (681 m) with the Zailiysky Alatau range dominating the southern horizon. Two parallel asphalt runways, 05L/23R at 14,764 ft (4,500 m) and 05R/23L at 14,436 ft (4,400 m), make it one of the few airports in the wider region able to handle simultaneous widebody operations under the challenging mountain approach. A new international terminal, designed by the Turkish firm TAV and delivered in 2024, more than doubled capacity; the refurbished original terminal now handles domestic flights exclusively. Thirty-nine airlines link ALA to 81 nonstop destinations, including Air Astana's long-haul flagship services to London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Dubai, plus dense networks to Istanbul, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Seoul Incheon, Beijing, Urumqi, Delhi and the Russian trunk cities. Within the former Soviet space ALA is an essential hub for onward travel to Bishkek, Tashkent, Dushanbe and Ashgabat. Its combination of strong Chinese, Gulf, European and Russian networks makes it Central Asia's most genuinely international gateway (2025).