Air Astana Suspends Dubai Flights Until August 31: What to Do with Your Bookings

Starting today, July 21, Air Astana is not operating flights from Almaty and Astana to Dubai — the pause will last until August 31. The reason is the deteriorating situation around the Strait of Hormuz.

This is the second suspension in a month: flights were canceled for three days on July 12, resumed on the 15th, and on the 16th the airline announced an extended pause, Forbes Kazakhstan reports, citing the carrier.

Terms for passengers. Air Astana is offering a choice: a full ticket refund at the point of purchase, free rebooking to dates after August 31, or rerouting to the airline’s other international destinations.

What this means for travel managers

1. Review all bookings to and from Dubai through the end of August — including tickets purchased in advance for autumn connections via DXB (the Dubai airport code).
2. If a trip cannot be postponed, consider alternative carriers on the route — flydubai and Emirates. Important: their schedules may also change in the current situation, so check the flight status right before ticketing.
3. For business-critical trips, a fallback option is routing via Istanbul: longer and more expensive, but less dependent on the situation in the Persian Gulf.
4. For the coming weeks, choose flexible fares with free rebooking for destinations in the region — the price difference pays off right now.

If your employees have trips to the UAE planned, save this post and forward it to the colleagues responsible for bookings.