Air Astana has begun equipping its Airbus A321LR fleet with SES multi-orbit inflight connectivity, with the first aircraft entering revenue service with Wi-Fi on 29 October. The A321LR, registered EI-KGB, operated its first connected flight from Almaty to Tashkent. The airline plans to install the system across its 13-aircraft fleet in phases throughout 2027, using its own maintenance facility for the initial installation.
The system combines a Gilat Stellar Blu electronically steerable antenna with Eutelsat’s OneWeb Ku-band low-Earth-orbit network and SES geostationary satellites. OneWeb has regulatory clearance to operate in Kazakhstan. Changes to national regulations helped enable non-geostationary satellite services, according to Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister and minister for artificial intelligence and digital development.
Wi-Fi will be free to all passengers on equipped A321LRs through 31 January 2027. From 1 February, complimentary access is planned for Business Class passengers and Nomad Club Gold and Diamond members; other passengers will be able to buy packages. Nomad Club members at every tier will have free messaging.
The installation extends connectivity beyond Air Astana’s three Boeing 767s, which use Inmarsat, now part of Viasat, Global Xpress equipment. The airline’s A321LR rollout is intended to provide connectivity across its network, but no aircraft-by-aircraft installation schedule or service performance figures have been disclosed.