A $670 million financing package arranged by Bank of America will fund the next phase of expansion at Almaty International Airport, with the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) committing $100 million to the syndicate. The facility, announced Sept. 29, will modernize the domestic terminal, upgrade airside infrastructure and aircraft de-icing facilities, and expand the cargo terminal. It matures in 2033.

Almaty handled 12 million passengers in 2025 and now serves more than 32,000 travelers daily, according to EDB. That traffic figure traces back to a prior financing round completed in 2021, which lifted the airport's annual design capacity from three million to 14 million passengers after a new international terminal opened in 2024.

The jump from three million to 14 million of nominal capacity — a 367% increase — created the slot headroom needed for Almaty to claim Central Asian hub status. The new round will test whether that ceiling holds through the late 2020s.

What will the new money pay for?

EDB's Sept. 29 statement identifies the following project components:

• Modernization of the domestic terminal
• Upgrades to airside infrastructure and aircraft de-icing facilities
• Expansion of the cargo terminal
• Improved connectivity between the international and domestic terminals
• Faster baggage handling
• Streamlined apron operations
• Expanded parking capacity

Who else is in the syndicate?

The Bank of America-led facility includes Merrill Lynch International, Société Générale, the Turkic Investment Fund and a group of Kazakhstan-domiciled banks. EDB previously financed the 2021 round alongside Germany's DEG, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The 2021 package delivered the international terminal that opened in 2024.

The 2021 deal carried a different shape: multilateral lenders EDB, DEG, EBRD and IFC each took direct bilateral exposure, with no commercial bank as lead arranger. Bank of America's role as lead arranger on the new facility signals how lenders expect to price and syndicate large Kazakh infrastructure going forward.

What did the lead institutional lender say?

"We are pleased to continue supporting the airport's development as part of the new Bank of America-led syndicate," EDB Chair Nikolai Podguzov said in the bank's announcement.

What does this mean for network and capacity?

Almaty's 32,000-passenger daily throughput points to roughly 11.7 million on an annualized run-rate, against 14 million of design capacity. The hub retains headroom but the margin narrows fast if traffic grows in line with Kazakhstan's wider aviation market.

Operator consequences split in two directions. Passenger carriers gain apron and gate capacity but face slot constraints at the terminal; cargo operators gain a cargo-terminal expansion that supports trans-Caspian and trans-Eurasian freight.

Almaty sits on a north-south corridor connecting China and the Middle East, with Iran and the Caucasus roughly an hour's flying time away. The airport's share of that flow in 2025 and its cargo throughput did not appear in EDB's statement.

What's next?

The next milestone will be procurement and construction tenders for the domestic terminal and cargo works, likely in 2026. Maturity in 2033 leaves operators and cargo customers a seven-year infrastructure runway to plan around, provided construction stays on schedule — a variable that has slipped on prior Central Asian hub projects.