Air Astana Jets Get Special Livery to Mark 20 Years of Kazakhstan’s Independence

Air Astana is decorating 10 Boeing and Airbus aircraft with special commemorative insignia and slogans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the independence of Kazakhstan.

The 10 aircraft will wear the special insignia and slogans until the end of 2011, Air Astana says.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the independence of Kazakhstan, Air Astana is giving 10 of its Airbus and Boeing aircraft a special commemorative livery until the end of 2011. The idea is to raise awareness in other countries of this landmark in Kazakhstan's history and to promote tourism to Kazakhstan for the 20th-anniversary celebrations

Its purpose in applying the special livery to the 10 aircraft is to promote Kazakhstan’s national identity and to attract the awareness of visitors to such an important event in the life of the country. Kazakhstan and Air Astana expect the 20th-anniversary celebrations to attract more tourists to the Central Asian country.

Air Astana says the process of decorating the fleet will be completed in September. It will take 10 hours to redecorate each aircraft, the airline’s maintenance crews performing the task during intervals between scheduled flights.

The aircraft bearing the commemorative markings will operate flights to 23 domestic and 31 international destinations, according to Air Astana.

Air Astana has 11 Airbus A320-family aircraft in service and on order. It also operates four Boeing 757s, two 767-300ERs, six Fokker 50 turboprops and two Embraer 190s, and holds options on a further two Embraer 190s.