A key air corridor has accelerated sharply. While global passenger demand grew by just 0.2% in July, traffic between Europe and Asia surged 12.1%, the strongest growth among major international routes, DKNews.kz reports.
The latest data were published by the International Air Transport Association, IATA on August 31. For Kazakhstan, the gap is particularly significant as the country expands direct connections with Europe and Asia while positioning Astana and Almaty as transit aviation hubs.
Global demand rose 0.2%, while Europe–Asia jumped 12.1%
July was close to a month of stagnation for global aviation.
Total passenger demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs, increased by only 0.2% compared with July 2025.
Capacity rose 0.3%, while the average passenger load factor slipped slightly to 85.2%.
International traffic performed even worse overall, with demand falling 0.1% year on year.
But the global average hides a much stronger performance on specific routes.
Passenger traffic between Europe and Asia increased by 12.1%. IATA described it as the fastest-growing major international corridor in July.
For comparison, overall international demand among European airlines increased by 3.1%.
That means Europe–Asia traffic expanded almost four times faster.
Kazakhstan sits directly between two growing markets
Geography has direct economic significance here.
Kazakhstan lies between Europe and some of Asia’s largest markets, and the government has been prioritizing the development of transit aviation for several years.
On August 21, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov discussed the development of Astana as a major aviation center with the management of Changi Airport Group. The government specifically highlighted Kazakhstan’s potential to attract transit passengers traveling between Asia and Europe.
However, 12.1% growth on the global corridor does not mean those passengers will automatically choose Kazakhstan.
Capturing part of the flow requires convenient connections, sufficient flight frequencies, competitive fares, strong airport infrastructure and a broad route network on both sides of the Kazakh hubs.
In that respect, 2026 has been an active year for the country.
Kazakhstan carried 9.2 million air passengers in seven months
Kazakhstan’s own market is also continuing to grow.
According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the country’s air transport sector carried 9.2 million passengers between January and July 2026.
That was 2.8% more than during the same period a year earlier.
Passenger turnover grew much faster, rising 8.1% to 19 billion passenger-kilometers.
The difference between passenger growth and passenger-turnover growth indicates that the total distance flown by passengers is increasing faster than the number of travelers.
For an aviation hub, this is a meaningful indicator: international and long-haul routes generate significantly more passenger-kilometers than short domestic flights.
Almaty is strengthening both ends of the corridor
Almaty provides a clear example of Kazakhstan’s strategy.
Since June, Poland’s LOT Polish Airlines has been operating the Warsaw–Almaty route four times a week.
Together with Astana–Warsaw services, the number of scheduled flights between Kazakhstan and Poland has reached eight per week.
New routes have also appeared on the Asian side.
On June 2, Air Astana launched scheduled Astana–Guangzhou flights twice a week.
Kazakhstan’s route network to China also expanded during the spring.
At the same time, China Eastern Airlines expressed commercial interest in launching a direct Astana–Shanghai service. Initial plans discussed three weekly flights, with the possibility of increasing frequency to a daily service later.
Kazakhstan is therefore expanding connectivity on both sides of the same Europe–Asia corridor that IATA identified as the fastest-growing major international route in July.
Almaty’s international terminal recorded 10% growth
Demand is already visible at the country’s largest airport.
During the first five months of 2026, Almaty airport’s international terminal handled around 2.2 million passengers.
That was 10% more than during the same period last year.
The number of international flights reached 20,600, up 8.6%.
The airport is also preparing for further growth.
Its modernization plan through 2029 includes around $362 million in investment, while annual capacity is expected to increase to 19 million passengers by 2030.
For Kazakhstan, the challenge is clear: the goal is not merely to have growing Europe–Asia traffic cross its airspace, but to bring those passengers into Kazakh airports and convert them into transfer traffic.
Middle Eastern international demand fell 9.5%
The strong Europe–Asia performance comes against a difficult backdrop for traditional Middle Eastern hubs.
International passenger demand among Middle Eastern carriers remained 9.5% below last year’s level in July.
Capacity fell 5.8%, while the passenger load factor dropped by 3.3 percentage points to 80.9%.
If Middle Eastern carriers were excluded from global figures, international demand would not have fallen 0.1%. Instead, it would have grown by 1.5%.
IATA says traffic through Gulf hubs is gradually recovering.
For that reason, it would be premature to claim that passengers will shift permanently from Middle Eastern hubs to Kazakhstan.
Still, geopolitical risks once again underline the value of alternative routes between Europe and Asia.
High fuel costs remain a threat to ticket prices
Another factor could limit growth.
“Although high fuel costs, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions continue, carriers are expressing confidence in demand for the last part of the year with an almost 3% expansion of seat capacity in September,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Sustainability and Chief Economist.
AFP
According to IATA, airlines are preparing to increase available seat capacity by almost 3% year on year in September.
But expensive fuel remains one of the industry’s key risks.
For passengers, that matters because of ticket prices. For aviation hubs, it affects route competitiveness: transit through Kazakhstan has to be attractive not only geographically, but also in terms of the total cost of the journey.
Transit passengers are the real prize
For Kazakhstan, the most interesting figure in IATA’s July report is not the global 0.2% growth.
It is the 12.1% increase on the Europe–Asia corridor.
While total demand fell 1.2% in North America and 10% in the Middle East, passenger traffic between Europe and Asia expanded sharply.
Kazakhstan is already connecting Warsaw with Astana and Almaty, increasing services to China and investing in airport infrastructure.
But success will not be measured by how often Kazakhstan describes itself as an aviation hub. It will be measured by how many passengers actually choose Astana or Almaty as their transfer point between the two continents.
We previously examined how Kazakhstan is building an aviation hub for Eurasia, looking at airport passenger growth, new international routes and infrastructure expansion.
Now the global market has delivered another signal: Europe–Asia became the fastest-growing major international air corridor in July.
