Türkiye-Kazakhstan economic ties deepen with major Turkish investment in Almaty Airport

Türkiye and Kazakhstan continue to strengthen their bilateral economic ties with newly announced investments in Almaty Airport.

Turkish firm TAV Airports is accelerating its investments in Kazakhstan alongside the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a cooperation protocol in May.

Building on that, TAV Airports CEO Serkan Kaptan and Kazakh Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev signed an agreement to expand the firm's ongoing investment program, bringing its total investment in the country to around $642.5 million.

Kaptan told Anadolu that the firm successfully completed Almaty Airport's initial $288.7 million investment program in 2024, delivering new international and VIP terminals. The newly agreed second phase of investments, totaling $353.9 million, will be completed by the end of next year.

He noted that TAV Airports has operated Almaty Airport since 2021, while its subsidiaries have provided services in food and beverage, duty-free sales, private passenger lounges, hospitality and technology infrastructure.

These operational improvements helped the airport nearly double its annual passenger traffic to 11.9 million by 2025. The upward trend continued into this year, with the airport handling 9.47 million passengers from January to September, driven by an 11% increase in international traffic.

"Almaty Airport, thanks to its strategic location along the modern Silk Road and the Middle Corridor, is one of Central Asia's key passenger and air cargo hubs," he said.

"The airport, as the main hub for Air Astana, serves 42 airlines flying to 86 destinations across 30 countries by the end of last year, contributing to the development of air transport and economic relations between Türkiye and Kazakhstan," he added.