Air Astana will launch nonstop flights to Salalah, Oman, on October 23 and 24, 2026, opening its first destination in the Gulf state barely weeks after restarting Dubai services suspended during the Middle East conflict.

The new Omani route links Salalah (SLL) with both of the carrier's main bases — Almaty (ALA) from October 23 and Astana (NQZ) from October 24 — on a weekly frequency from each city. Airbus A320 aircraft will operate the service.

Salalah is a tourist destination and the gateway to the mountains of southern Oman, where the summer monsoon leaves the landscape considerably greener than elsewhere in the region.

Why Oman, and why now?

The launch marks a return to growth in a region where Air Astana's ambitions were abruptly checked earlier in 2026. The airline had been expanding its Middle East network significantly at the start of the year, adding frequencies between Almaty and Dubai (DXB) and launching flights between Jeddah (JED) and Madinah (MED) and several Kazakhstani cities.

The outbreak of war in the Middle East forced the carrier to pause that expansion. Dubai flights were temporarily suspended and only resumed in early October 2026 after a months-long halt.

The Salalah service therefore represents the first structural addition to the Gulf network since the conflict disrupted operations, rather than a restoration of existing capacity.

What does the Tokyo route involve?

Almost in parallel, Air Astana announced a new route from Almaty to Tokyo Narita (NRT), starting November 30, 2026, subject to government approval. Tokyo becomes the airline's 22nd new route of 2026 — a pace of network expansion that few carriers of comparable size have matched this year.

The Japanese service will operate twice weekly with Airbus A321LR aircraft, in codeshare with Japan Airlines (JAL).

Air Astana's A321LRs carry 166 seats:

• 16 full lie-flat business class seats
• 150 economy seats, of which 18 are designated "MySeat" with extra space

The narrowbody configuration keeps the long-haul route within the fleet's existing capabilities, avoiding a dependency on widebody aircraft for the roughly trans-Asian sector.

What is driving the expansion?

The twin launches align with the strategy laid out by Air Astana's new Chief Executive Officer, Ibrahim Canliel, who succeeded the retiring Peter Foster. In an Executive Spotlight interview with AeroTime, due to be published shortly, Canliel explained that the Kazakh carrier is betting on international growth — particularly in Asia — for years to come.

The Tokyo Narita service fits that trajectory directly. The codeshare with JAL gives Air Astana connectivity beyond Narita into Japan's domestic network, while the twice-weekly frequency limits initial exposure on an unproven point-to-point market.

The Salalah route, by contrast, targets outbound leisure traffic from Kazakhstan to one of the Arabian Peninsula's most distinctive seasonal destinations, using A320 capacity already in the fleet.

What happens next?

Both Oman services begin in late October 2026, with Tokyo Narita following on November 30, subject to government approval — meaning the Narita launch date remains conditional until regulators sign off.