Astana is one of the medium-sized airports with very easy navigation. The buildings are clean and spacious and the check-in process is straightforward.

The airport has two terminals, but they are close together. You can walk from one end of the airport complex to the other in 5 minutes.

• Terminal 1 - the new building on the left when viewed from the outside with its wave-like roof serves all international flights
• Terminal 2 - the original building with the dome serves all domestic flights

Security checks tend to be quick and you usually don't spend more than 15 minutes in line.

Queues for passport control after arriving from abroad can stretch up to 45 minutes.

Book 1 night at Astana Airport

Transfer between flights

Astana is an important transfer point between domestic and international flights, but Air Astana or SCAT also offer purely international connections via Astana.

Due to its size, Astana Airport is a straightforward airport to change planes.

Below we describe the procedures in case you have the transfer included in your ticket and you bought the whole connection as one booking: the transfer is therefore guaranteed.

International -> Domestic

The checked baggage will be transferred automatically and you do not have to worry about it.

When you get off the plane, ignore the "flight trasnfers" signs and head straight to passport and immigration control. After you pass the baggage claim belts, you will need to go outside and into the domestic terminal, which is connected to the international building by an internal corridor (about a 3 minute walk).

In the domestic terminal, take the escalator up, go through security and find your departure gate.

Net transfer time from deplaning is between 45 and 75 minutes depending on the queue at passport control. If you have a shorter transfer time and there is a long queue at passport control, inform the staff member coordinating the queue and you will probably be sent to the priority line.

Domestic -> International

The procedure is basically the same as the reverse transfer described above. Your baggage will be automatically re-transferred and you will again have to leave the transit area and go through the landside to the international terminal next door.

Here you will pass through passport and security control to the departure gates.

The difference is the length of the queue at passport control, which is usually much shorter at departure. For this reason, the net transfer time is between 30 and 45 minutes.

International <-> International

If you are transferring from one country to another via Astana and do not plan to enter Kazakhstan at all, follow the "Flight Transfers" signs which will lead you to a security checkpoint for transferring passengers only.

This will take you very quickly to the departure gate area. There is no passport control.

Net transfer time is between 15 and 25 minutes.