Kazakhstan, ICAO pledge to strengthen civil aviation cooperation

This marks the first official visit of the ICAO Secretary General to Central Asian nations.

The talks focused on further strengthening cooperation between Kazakhstan and ICAO, and large-scale reforms underway in Kazakhstan aimed at providing sustainable progress in all priority economic sectors.

The PM noted that Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev prioritised the development of the country’s transport and logistics potential, building aviation hubs and strengthening the country’s role as a transit hub.

In turn, Juan Carlos Salazar praised Kazakhstan’s achievements in ensuring aviation security. Kazakhstan ranks among the top 20 for ICAO aviation security, with aviation security indicators reaching 95.7%. He stressed that Kazakhstan is taking important decisions on developing and strengthening airport and navigational infrastructure, air companies are modernizing their fleets and expanding the international route network.

The parties also noted the country’s positive development trend in civil aviation. For the past five years, gross output of the aviation sector grew by 6.5 times to reach 2.9 billion US dollars. As stated there, in 2025 airports handled 31.8 million passengers, the international route network expanded up to 161.

Following the talks, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation and join efforts to further raise security and ensure the steady development of civil aviation.

Earlier, Kazakh Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev met with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar as part of the ICAO Security Week 2026, which is being held in Astana from October 20 to 22.