Asman Airlines

Is Asman Airlines safe?

Its record so far is clean, but it is only two years old. Asman, the state airline owned by Kyrgyzstan's airports company, has flown since September 2024 without an accident. It flies three Dash 8-400 turboprops built in 2013, the youngest passenger fleet among Kyrgyz airlines. Against that, it has had three technical returns, including a cabin-pressure scare in April 2026 in which passengers reported trouble with the oxygen masks, the airline has no IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit, Kyrgyzstan left the EU's safety blacklist only in June 2026, and many of its airports are small fields in the mountains. We score it 69, above Avia Traffic Company (63) and Aero Nomad (66), mainly because its aircraft are much newer, and below Qazaq Air (77), Kazakhstan's Dash 8 operator. Our confidence is low because the record is short and thinly published.

The youngest fleet in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan's aircraft register, as summarised by Akchabar in July 2026, listed three Dash 8-400s for Asman, registered EX-21001 to EX-21003 and all built in 2013. They flew for Horizon Air in the United States and later belonged to the Canadian lessor Longview Aviation Leasing. The first one had an oxygen system fitted before it entered service, according to the airline. The other Kyrgyz airlines fly jets with an average age of 26 to 32 years, so Asman's 13-year-old turboprops are a real step up.

The fleet is growing. De Havilland Canada signed in March 2026 to supply a fourth, refurbished Dash 8-400, and the government says it is buying two Airbus A321s for the airline, with up to eight planned over five years and COMAC jets under study. The Dash 8 has modern avionics, and its maker still supports it. With three aircraft of one current type, the fleet scores 70, the airline's second-best factor.

The April 2026 pressure scare

On 16 April 2026, on flight MN15 from Bishkek to Osh, the crew got a warning from the system that keeps cabin pressure at a safe level. They began descending at once, as the manufacturer's procedures require, and passengers were given oxygen. No one was hurt and the aircraft landed safely. Passengers told a different story on social media: some felt unwell, there was panic in the cabin, and some had trouble using the oxygen equipment. The airline said the oxygen system worked normally, opened an internal investigation, and took the aircraft out of service for checks and repairs.

It was not the first return. On 8 July 2025, EX-21001 turned back to Bishkek on a flight to Osh with 87 people on board after the turbine temperature on its right engine ran too high. The airline's investigation, published by the civil aviation agency, traced it to a faulty bleed-off valve, which was replaced, and found no crew or maintenance error. On 9 July 2026 a Dash 8 on flight MN61 to Razzakov returned to Bishkek after a system warning; it landed safely and was towed off the taxiway.

A return after a warning is what crews are trained to do. Three technical returns in under two years, one of them a cabin-pressure warning, is not alarming on its own for a fleet of 13-year-old aircraft. But the agency has published no report yet on the two 2026 events, so we cannot say what caused them. Serious incidents score 62.

Mountain airports

Asman flies to all 11 airports in Kyrgyzstan. Some are busy, such as Osh and Tamchy on Lake Issyk-Kul in summer. Others, such as Kazarman, Kerben, Naryn, Batken and Razzakov, are small airports in mountain valleys, where weather can close a field quickly and the next airport is often far away. A turboprop built for short regional hops suits them better than a jet. Abroad, Asman flies to Almaty, Tashkent and Khujand, all well equipped. It has no flights to Russia or the Middle East, so conflict-zone bulletins do not apply. The environment scores 48, below Avia Traffic, because so much of the network is in the mountains.

Oversight: the same as every Kyrgyz airline

For about 20 years every airline certified in Kyrgyzstan was banned from EU airspace. The European Commission removed them all on 8 June 2026, and an ICAO validation mission in October 2026 ended without critical findings. The regulator revoked Tez Jet's certificate in July 2026 after an inspection that followed an MD-83 gear failure, which shows it will act. Its August 2026 register lists Asman's passenger certificate as valid.

Asman is not an IATA member and was not on IATA's IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary registry when we searched it on 28 October 2026; its website mentions an agreement with IATA to develop a business plan, which is not a safety audit. Kyrgyzstan is not on the FAA's IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary list. Oversight scores 57, the same as for every Kyrgyz airline we rate: we start from neighbouring Kazakhstan's 72, then take off 10 points for an EU ban that ended less than five years ago and 5 for the missing IOSA.

Tips for flying Asman

• Build a spare day into trips to Naryn, Kazarman or Batken. Mountain weather cancels flights, and with three aircraft a fault elsewhere can cancel yours too.
• Listen to the oxygen mask briefing. On a turboprop that climbs over high ridges, a pressure warning means a quick descent, and the April 2026 flight showed that passengers who know how to use the mask stay calmer.
• Check the flight status before you leave for the airport. Asman posts changes on its website and app, and regional flights are often moved or merged when the weather turns.

How we scored it

The accident record (82) is the strongest factor, but it covers only two years. The fleet (70) is the youngest in Kyrgyzstan. Serious incidents (62) reflect the April 2026 pressure warning and returns in July 2025 and July 2026, oversight (57) the recently lifted EU ban and the missing IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, and the environment (48) a network of mountain airports. Overall 69.