Qazaq Air

Is Qazaq Air safe?

Yes, on the evidence of a short record. Qazaq Air, which since May 2025 has sold its flights under the Vietjet Qazaqstan brand, has flown since August 2015 without an accident. It has held an 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 safety audit since 2018 and flies five Dash 8-400 turboprops. We score it 77, a little below Air Astana (78) and FlyArystan (79). It shares their regulator, but it is a much smaller airline that flies mostly into Kazakhstan's smaller regional airports.

Who runs it now?

The airline began in 2015 as a state-owned regional airline under the Samruk-Kazyna fund. On 6 May 2025 a privatisation was completed. Samruk-Kazyna kept 49%, Central Asia Aviation Holdings, part of Vietnam's Sovico Group, which controls Vietjet, took 49%, and Kazasia Holdings took 2%. On the same day the airline launched the Vietjet Qazaqstan brand.

The operator did not change. The certificate, the IATA code IQ and the ICAO code QAZ all belong to Qazaq Air JSC, and the website footer says the company "operates under the trademark Vietjet Qazaqstan". The Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air is a separate airline with its own certificate, and its record does not count here.

How clean is the record?

We found no accident in eleven years. The two events worth knowing about were both minor:

• Almaty, February 2021. A Q400 from Astana with 63 people on board burst both right main-gear tyres during the landing roll and stopped on the runway.
• Kostanay, October 2025. A Q400 bound for Astana rejected its take-off at high speed. Passengers said the crew announced a dog on the runway; the airline spoke of a technical malfunction. The left brakes overheated, but the aircraft taxied back to the apron.

Neither caused injuries. The record is short and the fleet is small: about 8,900 flights a year, against far more at Air Astana. So an empty accident column says less than it would for a large airline, and Kazakhstan publishes only some of its incident reports. That is why accidents score 88, not the 90s.

Is the oversight any good?

It matches the other Kazakh airlines. Every airline certified in Kazakhstan was on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary until the European Commission cleared them all in December 2016, and none is on the June 2026 list. Kazakhstan has no FAA rating because no Kazakh airline flies to the US.

Qazaq Air's own audits are the stronger part. It passed 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 for the first time in 2018, joined IATA in 2019 and renewed the audit in 2024, with the certificate valid until 17 November 2026. In 2022 it opened its own line maintenance station and moved its aircraft from the Aruban register to Kazakhstan's, and in 2023 it had its own training centre certified.

What does it fly?

Five Dash 8-400 turboprops, the type formerly sold as the Bombardier Q400. The airline began with three aircraft in 2015, and two more came new from the factory in 2019 with 86 seats. It is a current-generation type with a glass cockpit, and the fleet is fairly young, which is why it scores 70. A fleet of five, however, has no spare aircraft, and the airline's 2024 report mentions difficulties in finding space for engine checks.

Jets are coming. The 2025–2029 business plan adds the Boeing 737, and ch-aviation reported in August 2026 that the first 737-8 was due in September. A new type means new crew training and maintenance work. We will update the fleet score once it flies.

Where it flies

The network is regional. From its Astana base, Qazaq Air flies to cities such as Kostanay, Semey, Pavlodar, Balkhash and Usharal, some of them on state-subsidised routes, plus summer flights to lake resorts. It also flies to the Russian cities of Omsk, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg, which fall under EASA's bulletin for Russian airspace. The airline's own report blames late flights on local airports with little equipment, and on weather. Steppe winters bring snow, ice and crosswinds that make short regional runways harder. The environment scores 60.

Advice for passengers

• Expect turboprop travel. Flights are short, cruise lower and can be bumpier than on a jet. Keep your seat belt fastened when seated.
• Leave time in winter. De-icing and snow clearing at regional airports cause delays; book a long connection if you join an Air Astana or SCAT flight in Astana.
• Do not confuse the brand. Tickets say Vietjet Qazaqstan, but the airline is Qazaq Air, code IQ. A booking under Vietjet Air's VJ code is a different airline.

How we scored it

The accident record (88) carries the score: no accident since 2015, on a small number of flights. Oversight (72) matches Air Astana's: the same Kazakh regulator and 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. The fleet (70) is five modern turboprops with little spare capacity, incidents (72) are a short, quiet record, and the environment (60) reflects small regional airports, harsh winters and Russian routes. Overall 77.