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Direct flights to Kazakhstan: where they come from and how long they take

Foreign visitors flew into Kazakhstan 1.9 million times in 2025, up 18.6%. Nine in ten of them landed in Almaty or Astana. Here are the official arrival numbers by airport and nationality, plus nonstop flight times from nine cities.

Verified: 2026-11

Engraving: a passenger airliner descending over the steppe toward a city below snowy mountains
IllustrationEngraving: a passenger airliner descending over the steppe toward a city below snowy mountains

Foreign citizens flew into Kazakhstan 1,897,216 times in 2025, 18.6% more than in 2024. Total arrivals grew only 3.1%, so air’s share rose from 10.5% to 12.1%. Almaty and Astana airports handled 89.7% of all foreign air arrivals. The Civil Aviation Committee reports 30 countries, 135 international routes and 626 flights a week. We combined border statistics by transport mode and checkpoint with nonstop schedules from nine cities.

Key numbers

  • 1.90 million foreign air arrivals in 2025, +18.6%, one in eight of all arrivals.
  • Almaty 1,156,052 (60.9%), Astana 545,778 (28.8%). The other 17 airports share about 10%.
  • Shymkent +36.7% and Aktobe +71.6%, the fastest-growing regional airports.
  • Chinese citizens: 264,991 air arrivals, +79.1%, while all Chinese arrivals grew 46.8%.
  • Half of all long-haul arrivals come by air (50.1%); for former Soviet neighbours it is 7.1%.
  • Nonstop from Delhi in 3 h 15 min, from London in 8 h 5 min.

How long the flight takes

Shortest scheduled nonstop flight time, hours
  1. Delhi → Almaty 3.25
  2. Doha → Almaty 4.25
  3. Dubai → Astana 4.42
  4. Mumbai → Almaty 4.5
  5. Istanbul → Astana 4.83
  6. Beijing → Almaty 5.42
  7. Bangkok → Almaty 6.67
  8. Seoul → Almaty 6.67
  9. London → Almaty 8.08

Yandex Schedules, checked 6 Nov 2026; minutes shown as decimal hours (3.25 h = 3 h 15 min)

FromToScheduled time
DelhiAlmaty3 h 15 min – 3 h 35 min
DohaAlmaty4 h 15 min – 4 h 25 min
DubaiAstanafrom 4 h 25 min
MumbaiAlmaty4 h 30 min – 4 h 40 min, some days
IstanbulAstanafrom 4 h 50 min
BeijingAlmatyfrom 5 h 25 min
BangkokAlmaty6 h 40 min – 7 h 15 min
SeoulAlmaty6 h 40 min – 7 h 10 min
London HeathrowAlmaty8 h 5 min – 8 h 15 min

Delhi is closer to Almaty in flying time than Beijing or Istanbul. There was no nonstop Manila–Almaty flight on 6 November 2026, so the 18,895 Filipino air arrivals in 2025 all involved a connection. Carriers, airport transfers and season changes are on our page on how to fly to Kazakhstan; confirm your date with the airline before booking.

India to Kazakhstan: Air Astana flight, Delhi transit and Almaty layover · Travidiction · 32:47 · Watch on YouTube Third-party video; it loads from YouTube only when you press play.

Which airports foreigners arrive at

Foreign arrivals by airport, 2025, border crossings
  1. Almaty 1,156,052
  2. Astana 545,778
  3. Shymkent 51,116
  4. Aktau 50,898
  5. Aktobe 19,702
  6. Atyrau 16,532
  7. Karaganda 15,637
  8. Oskemen 14,709
  9. Kostanay 7,529
  10. Oral 6,811
  11. Turkistan 4,898
  12. Baikonur 4,542

BNS from Border Service data, “by checkpoint” sheet

Airport20242025ChangeShare of air arrivals, 2025
Almaty980,5611,156,052+17.9%60.9%
Astana450,123545,778+21.3%28.8%
Shymkent37,39551,116+36.7%2.7%
Aktau52,86250,898−3.7%2.7%
Aktobe11,48319,702+71.6%1.0%
Atyrau12,60116,532+31.2%0.9%
Karaganda18,75215,637−16.6%0.8%
Oskemen15,12214,709−2.7%0.8%

Shymkent overtook Aktau in 2025 to become the third airport for foreign arrivals. In practice, almost every long-haul trip starts in Almaty or Astana: Almaty for the mountains, Charyn and Kolsai, Astana for Burabay and the north. City guides: Almaty and Astana.

Who flies in

Arrivals by air, 2025, by citizenship, border crossings
  1. Russia 667,513
  2. China 264,991
  3. India 134,528
  4. Uzbekistan 95,372
  5. Kyrgyzstan 80,579
  6. Germany 80,151
  7. Türkiye 74,468
  8. Tajikistan 45,024
  9. South Korea 39,584
  10. Azerbaijan 31,290
  11. USA 31,173
  12. Belarus 21,351
  13. UK 19,447
  14. Philippines 18,895
  15. Ukraine 18,857

BNS from Border Service data, “by mode of transport” sheet, 2024–2025; charyn.kz calculation

CountryAir arrivals 2024Air arrivals 2025ChangeShare arriving by air
Russia599,918667,513+11.3%19.1%
China147,950264,991+79.1%27.6%
India126,975134,528+5.9%85.2%
Germany77,35180,151+3.6%84.2%
Türkiye69,44574,468+7.2%54.8%
South Korea30,87739,584+28.2%77.8%
USA29,67431,173+5.1%80.9%
UK16,27419,447+19.5%80.1%
Philippines12,76718,895+48.0%92.7%
UAE14,35217,974+25.2%98.2%

Chinese arrivals grew fastest by air: +79% against +47% across all modes. Indian, German and US air arrivals grew 4–6%, in line with their overall flows.

Who comes overland and who only flies

Share of arrivals that came by air, 2025, %
  1. UAE 98.2 %
  2. Oman 95.3 %
  3. Saudi Arabia 93.2 %
  4. Philippines 92.7 %
  5. Italy 86.4 %
  6. India 85.2 %
  7. Germany 84.2 %
  8. USA 80.9 %
  9. UK 80.1 %
  10. South Korea 77.8 %
  11. Türkiye 54.8 %
  12. China 27.6 %
  13. Russia 19.1 %
  14. Kyrgyzstan 2.3 %
  15. Uzbekistan 1.7 %

BNS from Border Service data, “by mode of transport” sheet, 2024–2025; charyn.kz calculation

For Gulf citizens more than 93% of arrivals are by air, for Filipinos 92.7% and for Indians 85.2%. For these markets, nonstop schedules and fares effectively decide how many people come. Chinese citizens mostly cross by land (27.6% by air), and Uzbek and Kyrgyz citizens almost always do (1.7–2.3%). The full country picture, with length of stay and trip purpose, is in arrivals in Kazakhstan by country. Entry rules by passport are on the visa page.

The route network

The Civil Aviation Committee’s 2025 summary gives three figures: air links with 30 countries, 135 international routes and 626 flights a week, with a national fleet of 109 aircraft. It does not list the routes or break them down by airport. Spread over 52 weeks, 1.9 million foreign air arrivals come to about 36,500 a week across all airports.

Methodology

  1. From the BNS “Inbound visitors” workbook for 2024–2025 we took the sheets “by mode of transport” (by citizenship) and “by checkpoint”.
  2. We selected the 19 checkpoints marked as airports.
  3. Growth is 2025 over 2024 minus one; shares are relative to total air arrivals or to all arrivals of a country.
  4. Flight times come from the nonstop schedule table on our flights page, checked against Yandex Schedules on 6 November 2026.

Sheet totals in the source differ by a few dozen arrivals (1,897,216 by transport mode against 1,897,234 summed by airport); we show them as published. See also our methodology.

What we don’t know

Not verified yet The full list of 135 routes with frequencies, and a year-by-year route count for 2019–2024: we found neither in open sources. Border data also record citizenship and entry point, not the city of departure, so an Indian citizen arriving via Dubai sits in the same row as one who flew nonstop from Delhi.

How to cite

Suggested credit: “charyn.kz calculation based on Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan (Border Service) data, 2024–2025”. Example: “Foreign air arrivals in Kazakhstan rose 18.6% to 1.9 million in 2025, with 60.9% landing in Almaty (charyn.kz, based on BNS data).”

Airport and country tables for 2024 and 2025 are in a CSV file under CC BY 4.0. More datasets are on the open data page.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the flight to Almaty?
The shortest scheduled nonstop flights take 3 h 15 min from Delhi, 4 h 15 min from Doha, from 5 h 25 min from Beijing, from 6 h 40 min from Seoul and Bangkok, and 8 h 5 min from London Heathrow (schedules checked on 6 November 2026).
Which airport should I fly into, Almaty or Astana?
Almaty for the Tian Shan mountains, Charyn Canyon and the Kolsai lakes; Astana for Burabay and the north. Almaty airport handles twice as many foreign arrivals as Astana and has more long-haul nonstop routes.
Are there direct flights from India to Kazakhstan?
Yes, Delhi–Almaty and Mumbai–Almaty (on some days). 85.2% of Indian citizens enter Kazakhstan by air, and Indian air arrivals reached 134,528 in 2025.
Is there a direct flight from Manila to Almaty?
Not as of 6 November 2026, according to Yandex Schedules. Even so, 92.7% of Filipino visitors arrive by air, so they connect through another hub.
How many international routes does Kazakhstan have?
135 international routes to 30 countries with 626 flights a week in 2025, according to Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee. The committee did not publish the route list.
How many foreign visitors arrive at Almaty airport?
1,156,052 foreign arrivals passed through Almaty airport’s border checkpoint in 2025, 17.9% more than in 2024 and 60.9% of all foreign air arrivals in the country.

Sources

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