Air Kazakhstan

Air Kazakhstan (also Kazakhstan Airlines) was the national airline of the former soviet republic of Kazakhstan. It operated domestic and international services between 1997 and 2004.

Code Data

*IATA Code: 9Y
*ICAO Code: KZK
*Callsign: Kazakh

History

The airline was established on 8 October 1996 and started operations on 10 March 1997. Originally, its name was Kazakhstan Airways but a few months after its foundation it changed to Air Kazakhstan (spelled as "Air Kazakstan" until 2001, when spelling changed to "Air Kazakhstan"). It ceased operations on 29 February 2004 (flight from Hannover to Almaty) after accumulating heavy debts and was declared bankrupt in April 2004 by the court in Almaty. Air Astana succeeded Kazakhstan Airlines as the country's flag carrier.

Incidents and accidents

On November 12, 1996, in one of the deadliest passenger airlines air-disasters, Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 with registration UN-76435, en route from Chimkent, Kazakhstan to New Delhi, India; collided inflight with Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763, registration HZ-AIH, a Boeing 747-168B en route from New Delhi, India to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The two aircraft collided in mid-air over the village of Charkhi Dadri, India, killing all 349 aboard both aircraft. It is currently the deadliest mid-air collision in aviation history.