Kazakhstan’s flag carrier Air Astana has taken delivery of a new Embraer E190-E2 with a distinctive Snow Leopard livery. It was delivered to Astana’s Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport.
Based in Almaty, Air Astana operates a mixed fleet of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer aircraft. All are configured with business class and economy class seating.
Snow Leopard Paint Job
Embraer has updated their long standing E-Jet family with the new E2 series. These aircraft started entering service in April 2018 and are powered by the ultra modern Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan.
Air Astana has five aircraft on order and the first is painted as a Snow Leopard. The reason for this is that these are native to the mountain ranges in southern Kazakhstan.
There are estimated to be less than 10,000 of the species left in the wild. The airline hopes that the special livery will bring attention to the vulnerable cat.
There have been virtually no instances of this animal attacking humans. Poaching continues to be a threat, with two hundred or more killed each year for their skins and body parts.
Overall Thoughts
It’s a striking paint job that has been applied to the front of the new Embraer E190-E2. Viewing it from ahead of the aircraft is certainly more visually appealing than the side on version.
For some reason it reminds me a bit of the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 that was painted up to look like a salmon! Or perhaps the Frontier Airlines animal tails.
What do you think of the Air Astana Snow Leopard? Have you ever flown with them or been to Kazakhstan? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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All images by Air Astana via Flight Global.
Yes, i have flown with Air Astana numerous times over the last 3 years flying between Astana and London, Almaty and Almaty to Bangkok. They are a fantastic airline with a very enjoyable service. For me they are head and shoulders above British Airways. Also being British and having lived in Kazakhstan for 3 years i can honestly say its a wonderful country. The people are incredibly friendly, an interesting culture and stunningly beautiful landscapes ranging from flat steppe to mountainous areas, lush vegitation to deserts, blistering summer heat in the south to arctic winter conditions in the north. Kazakhstan… Read more »
Great to hear you’ve had such good experiences with Air Astana and that’s some praise putting them above British Airways! The fact you keep using them says a lot.
Kazakhstan clearly should be high on my list of places to visit. I did know they had a varied landscape but it’s great to hear from someone on the ground about it. Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I’ll have to check out some more details on both the airline and the country!