Astana International Airport is situated only nine miles from Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan.
In 1997 the title of capital officially transferred from the city of Almaty to Astana, making the city an important location for international air travel. In-keeping with Astana's new position as a capital city, a series of reconstructions and upgrades began in 1997 to bring the airport up to international standards.
Many of the renovations, including a new passenger terminal, were designed by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.
Astana International's two terminals (one domestic, one international) are thought to service more than 1,000,000 passengers per year and handle more than 2,500 metric tonnes in cargo, receiving air traffic and commercial traffic from as far away as Shanghai, Beijing, Russia and Frankfurt.
The airport remains an attractive choice for moving cargo as Astana International currently accepts all types of aircraft without imposing a capped take-off weight.