The world’s smallest markets are experiencing steady growth; Central Asia has seen some favorable changes in both market structure and available resources, said John Grant, chief analyst at OAG.
He moved to Central Asia, the second fastest growing market; however, it should also be noted that it disposes of the smallest region in the world in terms of capacity, despite the immense distance of four million km2, which is twice that of the west. Europe
Another factor affecting the relative size of Central Asia is that only four major land markets are covered, while in many other countries many rural markets are covered; Western Europe, for example, covers 27 countries running from the UK to the Faroe Islands.
This is why the country’s capacity for growth is impressive; comparing the airline’s capacity for the year summer 2019 to this year (summer 2023), with Tajikistan almost doubling the capacity +97%, and crossing the 8 million seat mark found Kazakhstan with an impressive increase of 38% compared to the level of 2023.
There are currently 47 archers operating in Central Asia, a very similar number to the number operating in the summer of 2019, although some significant changes have occurred in these archers during the pandemic.
The top 10 local airlines include carriers and major entrants, Air Astana is the largest carrier with nearly 5 million seat hours scheduled for the summer season, a staggering 71% increase in summer 2019 production.
The increased capacity of the growth of local airlines is clearly a sign of confidence in the market and is in most cases a reflection of the growing economic trade and wealth in these countries as the combination of trade, tourism and greater political stability in the region have encouraged investment. .
“Perhaps a greater sign of growing confidence is the increase in the capacity of foreign carriers in the region, as happened with Turkish Airlines that added 68% more capacity and is now the fifth largest airline in the region. While FlyDubai, with a 74% increase in capacity, is always building larger networks,” Praesta said .
In addition, several new airlines have entered the market in the last four years. Wizzair Abu Dhabi has recently launched its A320 neo service and recalls that it will operate from Central Europe to Central Asia.
Jazeera Airlines, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Air Arabia are new entrants to the region. Saudi Arabian and Iranian airlines are due to increase their access to the air in the coming months, so an arch like FlyNas, and also Saudia, can be expected to increase the possibility of religious traffic flows from the country during the year. “So the competition seems to be increasing and with that competition is a different balance in the service offering.”
This rapid increase in capacity occurs for a number of reasons. Indeed, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created a profane region with large streams of Russian citizens passing through different points and building new lives in a part of the world where Russian is widely spoken.
Another of the factors that contribute to the growth of the region is the “old silk road”, which again begins to flourish with the growth of trade passing through the area.
Religious tourism in the country is also heavily promoted with many “must see” sites on the list. Supporting infrastructure such as new hotels, road access and mobile rail networks have also been expanded to meet growing demand.
“After superimposing the factors of rising GDP per capita, higher disposable incomes, and a young, tourist-curious population base, Central Asia suddenly looks like a region where we can expect further growth in the years to come. Catching up with the rest of the world will take a long time, but it is certainly on that path. it seems,” the gift concluded.
