Kazakhstan is going through its densest cycle of regional airport reopenings and new construction in decades — quieter than the Almaty/Astana headline projects, but broader in the number of cities it touches.
Arkalyk (Kostanay region) received its first scheduled flight on August 22, 2026 — after 30 years without service. Per inform.kz (August 22, 2026), the airport was assigned its three-letter IATA code, AYK, on August 12, 2026. Carrier SCAT launched three routes at twice-weekly frequency each: Astana-Arkalyk-Astana (10,000 tenge one-way), Almaty-Arkalyk-Almaty (25,000 tenge), and Kostanay-Arkalyk-Kostanay (10,000 tenge). The reopening was addressed by Deputy Transport Minister Talgat Lastayev and Kostanay region Deputy Governor Berik Tansharikov.
On the same day, August 22, 2026, Pavlodar Airport reopened after reconstruction — the first flight was operated by Vietjet Qazaqstan from Astana (per zakon.kz). The runway was widened from 45 to 60 meters, with new lighting and surveillance systems and updated perimeter fencing. Terminal capacity rose from 200 to 300 passengers per hour. Investment totaled 16.4 billion tenge, of which 9.3 billion came from a special state fund built from assets recovered by prosecutors in illicit-enrichment cases (bes.media, July 8, 2026). Current service: Vietjet Qazaqstan, 4 weekly flights to Astana; FlyArystan, daily to Almaty. SCAT is considering routes to Aktau, Shymkent and Aktobe; Uzbekistan's Centrum Air plans to launch an international Pavlodar-Tashkent service in March 2027.
By the end of 2026, three more airports in East Kazakhstan and Mangystau tourist zones are expected to open — Zaysan, Katon-Karagay, and Kenderli. Per qumash.kz (September 17, 2026, citing state enterprise Kazaeronavigation), combined investment in the three projects is 117 billion tenge; all three are built to identical specifications — a 2,200-meter runway and a terminal handling 150 passengers per hour. As of September 17, 2026: Zaysan's runway, taxiway and apron are complete with the terminal underway; Katon-Karagay's runway is finished with the terminal and support facilities in progress; Kenderli is roughly 49% complete (also confirmed by Trend.Az, September 15, 2026, following an inspection by First Deputy Prime Minister Nurlan Nurlibayev). Zaysan and Katon-Karagay airports will be operated by JSC "Ust-Kamenogorsk Airport"; SCAT has already expressed interest in operating routes there.
For comparison: Uralsk Airport was reconstructed in 2019-2022 with private financing from oil company KPO b.v. (6.6 billion tenge), expanding the terminal from roughly 4,800 to 10,000 sqm. Since 2023, operational management has passed to "Oral Airport Holding" with Russian participation, while the runway remains owned by the transport ministry — a rare regional example of split public-private airport asset ownership.
What this means for the domestic aviation ecosystem: until 2026, smaller cities in the region (Arkalyk, Pavlodar, Zaysan, Katon-Karagay) were effectively cut off from the air network — access meant a bus or train ride to the regional capital. Subsidized routes (the country runs a support program for 23 socially significant domestic routes) combined with five airports coming online in the same year are producing the first real connectivity in decades between small cities and major hubs — Astana, Almaty, Kostanay.