The international regular flight between Kazakhstan's capital Astana and Sanya has been successfully resumed.
On October 17th at 08:30 Beijing time, flight DV475 operated by Selfie Travel China, carrying 215 passengers, arrived at Sanya Phoenix International Airport from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, marking the successful resumption of the "Astana ⇌ Sanya" international scheduled route.
The route is operated by Kazakhstani airline SCAT Airlines, initially with one round-trip flight between Sanya and Astana every Tuesday, and an additional flight on Saturdays starting from the end of October, reaching two flights per week. The aircraft type is Boeing 737-9MAX, with the inbound flight number DV475 taking off from Astana at 01:00 and arriving in Sanya at 08:30; the outbound flight number DV476 departs from Sanya at 10:15 and arrives in Astana at 19:45 (all times are Beijing time, subject to the airline's announcement).
Astana is the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, formerly known as Nur-Sultan, which replaced Almaty as the new capital of the Central Asian country in 1997. It covers an area of about 952 square kilometers and has a population of 1.2 million. With cool summers and severe winters, it has a good ecological environment and is the main production base for industry and agriculture in Kazakhstan, as well as a national railway transportation hub.
From December 2016 to February 2020, the route operated a total of 161 flights, transporting approximately 37,000 passengers. To accelerate the recovery of the international tourism market and actively respond to the strategic development goals of the Sanya government to "build an international tourist resort and a free trade port science and innovation highland," Sanya's first Sino-foreign joint venture inbound tourism operator, SAOFEI Travel Group, in conjunction with overseas airlines, will successively open regular direct flights from Astana and Almaty to Sanya, increasing its own flights from one per week to four per week. It is expected that the annual reception of inbound tourists will increase by about three times compared to the same period in 2019, with the Kazakh market exceeding 40,000 annual receptions.
To welcome the market recovery, Selfie Travel China, based on a deep understanding of Sanya's comprehensive tourism resources and a profound understanding of the leisure and holiday travel needs of Kazakhstan, has precisely upgraded and innovated Sanya's characteristic tourism products. For the first time after the recovery of the international tourism market, it has introduced characteristic tourism products such as resort hotels, traditional Chinese medicine health care, seaside activities, and visits to intangible cultural heritage ancient villages to the Kazakh market. By creating a rich variety of characteristic tourism products, it aims to attract more international markets to Sanya, enhancing Sanya's international competitive advantage as an international tourist destination.
He Jin, Chairman of Selfie Travel China, was interviewed by CCTV
The Pan-Russian region is a traditional source market for Sanya, with rich tourism and holiday demand, and it is also a market where Sanya's international routes maintain high operational stability throughout the peak and off-peak seasons. The "Astana ⇌ Sanya" international route is the first capital route resumed by Sanya in the region after the recovery of the international tourism market. The smooth resumption of this international route marks the accelerated return of an important market for Sanya's inbound tourism, promoting the accelerated recovery and improvement of Sanya's inbound tourism market, and making positive contributions to bilateral economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and Kazakhstan. The mutual understanding and traditional friendship between the peoples of the two countries will continue to deepen, and the future prospects of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan will be even brighter.