Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport

• 1930: The airport was built 3 kilometers away from Akmolinsk (now – Nur-Sultan) within the area of today's modern architectural tower of Baiterek. There was a square field for aircraft take-off and landing, adobe 8-room station with a small waiting hall, a two-room house for pilots and fuel storage on the airport territory.
• 1931: The first airfield of Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) was built in 1931 on the outskirts of the town and was developed further after World War II. There was a square field for aircraft take-off and landing, adobe 8-room station with a small waiting hall, a two-room house for pilots and fuel storage on the airport territory. The regular air traffic was established between Semipalatinsk and Akmolinsk (day of enterprise establishment). At the water flood period, the aerodrome was closed. Communication between aerodrome and city was by phone, ferry (there was no bridge over Ishim River), by foot path.. In the first few years the air traffic was ad-hoc by character, the timetables used to be as follows “aircraft departure on Monday morning” or “on Wednesday at sunrise”. Transportation of passengers, mail and cargo were carried out by aircraft: Kalinin K-4, Kalinin K-5, Polikarpov R-5, Petlyakov Pe-2.
• 1934: The regular flights were established, with the following routes:
  1. Alma-Ata – Karaganda – Akmolinsk – Atbasar – Kostanay – Sverdlovsk.
  2. Karaganda – Petropavlovsk – Korgalzhyn – Akmolinsk.

• 1946: In the beginning of 1946 the first group of Polikarpov Po-2 aircraft arrived to Akmolinsk for regular service. The group belonged to Karaganda aviation enterprise. The following routes were opened for passenger and mail transportation: Akmolinsk – Korgalzhyn – Aksu – Astrakhanka – Balkashino (settlements of Akmolinsk region). Operations division was organized consisting of 2 persons. In 1946 aviation began to render services for the national economy – medical aviation.
• 1947-1948: The fleet consisting of three Polikarpov Po-2 aircraft was formed at the Akmolinsk airport base. This fleet was part of air group which was based in Karaganda. The airport was equipped with modern equipment (for that days), construction development has started: a Finnish house for radio station, three buildings and a garage were built. The total number of staff amounted to 40 – 50 persons. The airport has begun servicing heavier types of aircraft Lisunov Li-2 in addition to light aircraft.
• 1963: 04-th of November the airport of Tselinograd (formerly known as – Akmolinsk) accepted the first aircraft Ilyushin Il-18 in new terminal, located 18 km far from the city. Aircraft Ilyushin Il-18 in new terminal, located 18 km far from the city. On December, 1963 aircraft Ilyushin Il-18 began to operate on regular flights. The airport terminal was at a building stage, therefore the adapted 2-storeyed building served as air terminal, where the Air traffic control service has been located
• 1966: 08-th of February the new air terminal was transferred into operation, and in June of the same year all services of united aviagroup relocated to the new airport.
• 1969: the aircraft park of Tselinograd aviagroup has replenished with the first aircraft Antonov An-24. With reception of aircraft Antonov An-24 the volume of passenger, mail, and cargo transportation has sharply increased. People began to fly to many cities of the former Union on own airpark.
• 1975: The aircraft Tupolev Tu-154 has firstly landed on our runway. Since this moment regular flight by aircraft Tupolev Tu-154 on Alma-Ata – Tselinograd – Moscow route and back has been opened.
• 1998: historical mark for Akmola (Nur-Sultan) aviators was the change of the capital. Airdrome reconstruction begun and finished in a relatively short time: the runway with artificial covering was extended for about 3500 meters; taxiway and apron were also expanded. Replacements of light system and the radio navigating equipment; the VIP building was constructed, the airport complex was reconstructed.

• 2005: A large-scale international airport reconstruction project has been completed. On February 2, 2005, the grand opening of the new passenger terminal of the airport took place. The terminal area was more than 25 thousand square meters. meters. Number of check-in counters - 24, 2 luggage straps. Currently, the terminal is used to service domestic flights and is called Terminal 2.
• 2014: The beginning of the implementation of the projects "Reconstruction of the passenger terminal of JSC "Astana International Airport", as well as "Construction of the Business Aviation Terminal".
• 2015: The grand opening of the business aviation terminal took place on November 19, 2015. The BAT area is 2,400 square meters, the capacity is 200 passengers per hour. The terminal building housed a lounge bar, a conference hall, rooms for negotiations, convenience for passengers with children, a duty-free shop, there are 52 parking spaces for guests.
• 2017: Within the framework of Infrastructure Development Program a new passenger terminal for international flights was built. 47,000 sq. M. The new terminal adds 6 new aircraft parking lots with landing sleeves and 4 bus landing routes to the airport infrastructure, and also includes a variety of technologies and processes designed to improve the quality of service at the airport.

Currently, Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport has the category of the International Civil Aviation Association - IIIA, as well as accepts and serves aircraft of all types, with no takeoff weight limitation - Ilyushin Il-76, Antonov An-124 Ruslan, Boeing 747-400F.

"N" stands for Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, as well as the name of the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan. "QZ" is an acronym for Qazaqstan according to the new version of Kazakh alphabet based on the Latin script-said the author of the ‘NQZ’ code Altay Abibullayev.[3]

• The new international terminal (labelled "T1") opened in June 2017.[4] Plans for the new terminal show 5–6 new departure gates complementing the gates in the previously existing terminal building.[5]

• Within the framework of Infrastructure Development Program "Nurly Zhol" a new passenger terminal for international flights is built. 47,000 sq. M. and completed construction in time for the EXPO 2017, and took the role of T1 – International Terminal. The new terminal adds 6 new aircraft parking lots with landing sleeves and 4 bus landing routes to the Airport infrastructure, and also includes a variety of technologies and processes designed to improve the quality of service at the Airport. The new terminal has a public catering area of 1000 square meters, retail outlets occupy 1,300 square meters.

• The concept of T2 - terminal building has been designed by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. With the opening of the new international terminal, the old terminal (now labelled "T2") is now dedicated to departures and arrivals of domestic flights. T2 - was the original and only terminal when the airport was reconstructed in 2005.

• On February 2, 2005, the grand opening of the T2 passenger terminal of the airport took place. The terminal area is more than 25 thousand square meters. Number of check-in counters - 24, 2 luggage straps. The design of the airport is the fusion of eastern and western traditions. The building has five floors, panoramic elevators, escalators, aerobridges, lounges and the system of automatic check-in for passengers, airport shops, restaurants, cafes, a pharmacy, a call-center, Wi-Fi and other.

The following airlines operate regular scheduled, seasonal and charter flights to and from Nur-Sultan:[6]

^a China Southern Airlines flies from Nur-Sultan to Guangzhou as CZ6014 with a stop-over in Urumqi. This flight is flown by a Boeing 737-800.[10]

The following airlines operate scheduled cargo services at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport:

Almaty International Airport was the most popular domestic route with 144 weekly flights. The table below shows the 10 busiest domestic routes at the airport in 2020.

Busiest domestic routes to and from Nur-Sultan by weekly flights (2020)

Rank	Region	City	Airport(s)	IATA	Weekly Departures	Airlines
1.	Almaty	Almaty	Almaty International Airport	ALA	144	Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
2.	Shymkent	Shymkent	Shymkent International Airport	CIT	41	Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
3.	Atyrau Region	Atyrau	Atyrau International Airport	GUW	33	Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
4.	East Kazakhstan Region	Oskemen	Oskemen Airport	UKK	30	Air Astana, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
5.	Aktobe Region	Aktobe	Aktobe International Airport	AKX	29	Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
6.	Mangystau Region	Aktau	Aktau International Airport	SCO	19	Air Astana, SCAT Airlines
7.	Jambyl Region	Taraz	Aulie-Ata International Airport	DMB	19	SCAT Airlines
8.	Kostanay Region	Kostanay	Kostanay Airport	KSN	17	FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
9.	Kyzylorda Region	Kyzylorda	Kyzylorda Airport	KZO	13	Air Astana, FlyArystan
10.	West Kazakhstan Region	Oral	Oral Ak Zhol Airport	URA	10	Air Astana
Sources: Statistics[14]

Busiest CIS routes to and from Nur-Sultan by weekly flights (2020)

Rank	Country	City	Airport(s)	IATA	Weekly Departures	Airlines
1.	Russian Federation	Moscow	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Domodedovo International Airport, Vnukovo International Airport, Zhukovsky International Airport	SVO DME VKO ZIA	31	Aeroflot, Air Astana, S7 Airlines SCAT Airlines, FlyArystan
2.	Republic of Uzbekistan	Tashkent	Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport	TAS	10	Air Astana, Uzbekistan Airways
3.	Russian Federation	Novosibirsk	Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport	OVB	9	Air Astana, S7 Airlines
4.	Republic of Belarus	Minsk	Minsk National Airport	MSQ	7	Belavia
5.	Russian Federation	Yekaterinburg	Koltsovo International Airport	SVX	6	Air Astana
6.	Russian Federation	Saint Petersburg	Fyodor Dostoyevsky International Airport	LED	5	Air Astana
7.	Russian Federation	Omsk	Omsk Tsentralny Airport	OMS	5	Air Astana
8.	Republic of Tajikistan	Dushanbe	Dushanbe International Airport	DYU	5	SCAT Airlines
9.	Kyrgyz Republic	Bishkek	Manas International Airport	FRU	3	Air Astana
10.	Ukraine	Kiev	Boryspil International Airport	KBP	3	Air Astana
Sources: Statistics[14]

Busiest international routes to and from Nur-Sultan by weekly flights (2020)

Rank	Country	City	Airport(s)	IATA	Weekly Departures	Airlines
1.	Turkey	Istanbul	Istanbul Airport	IST	12	Air Astana, Turkish Airlines
2.	Germany	Frankfurt am Main	Frankfurt am Main International Airport	FRA	10	Air Astana, Lufthansa
3.	United Arab Emirates	Dubai	Dubai International Airport	DXB	10	Air Astana, flydubai
4.	China	Beijing	Beijing Capital International Airport	PEK	6	Air Astana, Air China
5.	China	Urumqi	Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport	URC	5	Air Astana, China Southern Airlines
6.	United Kingdom	London	Heathrow Airport	LHR	4	Air Astana
7.	Poland	Warsaw	Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport	WAW	3	LOT Polish Airlines
8.	United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	Abu Dhabi International Airport	AUH	2	Etihad Airways
9.	France	Paris	Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport	CGD	2	Air Astana
10.	South Korea	Seoul	Incheon International Airport	ICN	2	Air Astana
Sources: Statistics[14]