Air Astana and China Southern Airlines have signed a joint venture agreement to deepen commercial cooperation and improve air connectivity between Kazakhstan and China. The deal builds on their existing codeshare partnership and provides for coordinated schedules, expanded codeshare services and joint marketing. The carriers plan to begin cooperation on routes they both operate, including Almaty–Guangzhou and Almaty–Urumqi, with Kazakhstan’s antimonopoly authority having approved the proposed cooperation.
Schedule coordination could spread flights more evenly across the week and improve connections. On Almaty–Guangzhou, for example, the carriers’ flights had departed just 35 minutes apart on one day, while neither operated the route the following day. The agreement allows the airlines to coordinate departure times and operating days, which was not possible under their previous codeshare arrangement.
Air Astana operates up to 36 weekly round trips between the countries in peak periods, while China Southern operates up to 29. Kazakhstan’s Deputy Transport Minister Talgat Lastaev reported 117 scheduled weekly flights across 21 routes, a 52% increase on the same period in 2025. More than one million passengers had travelled between the countries since the start of 2026.
The agreement does not specify financial terms or an implementation timetable. Through-checking baggage and reciprocal frequent-flyer benefits have been discussed as possible future improvements, but are not confirmed changes under the deal.