Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport has begun preparing civil aviation for the 2026–2027 autumn–winter period. Vice Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev held a meeting on 16 October. The goal is safe and uninterrupted operation of airports and airlines during snowfall, ice and icing.
What airports have been ordered to do
— ensure full readiness of airport infrastructure, airfield and special equipment and staff for operations in difficult weather; — carry out timely maintenance and check that equipment is serviceable; — build sufficient stocks of anti-icing reagents and other consumables; — prepare equipment for prompt clearing of runways, taxiways, aprons and other surfaces of snow and ice; — organise de-icing treatment of aircraft.
The vice minister required all preparations to be completed in advance, before stable cold weather sets in, and not at the moment difficult weather arrives. Readiness of airports and airlines must be checked on an ongoing basis.
Why it matters
In winter, Kazakhstan's airfields operate in snowfall, blizzards and sharp temperature swings. Runway clearing and de-icing directly affect delays and cancellations. The ministry's instructions cover the very operations that determine the regularity of winter flying.
Our assessment: the instructions are general in nature. They contain no reagent volumes, equipment counts or inspection dates, so actual readiness can only be judged by how airports perform in the first snowfalls. This is flycentralasia's conclusion, not a statement by the Ministry of Transport.
What businesses can do. Suppliers of de-icing fluid, reagents and airfield snow-clearing equipment can offer airports contracts before the season starts. Ground handlers and airlines can check their own de-icing procedures against the regulator's requirements. Tour operators and corporate clients can factor winter delay risk into connections via Kazakh airports.