Air Astana (website: www.airastana.com) is the national airline.

None.

Almaty (ALA) (website: www.almatyairport.com) is located 10km (6 miles) northeast of the city. To/from the airport: Buses connect the airport with the city centre (journey time – 20 minutes). Taxis are also available. Facilities: Car hire, duty-free shops, restaurant and post office.

Astana (website: www.astanaairport.kz). To/from the airport: Taxis are available. Facilities: Duty-free, restaurants, cate, ATM, currency exchange bureaux and baggage storage.

Main ports: Aqtau, Atyrau, Oskemen, Pavlodar and Semey. Freight is carried on the Caspian Sea to Iran and the Russian Federation.

There are international rail connections with China, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Services run regularly from Almaty to Urumchi in China and daily to Moscow (journey time – 3 days) and connect with the entire Russian Federation railway network.

The Tashkent–Novosibirsk Express passes through Almaty in both directions. The lines from Almaty in the north connect with the Trans-Siberian Railway running west to Chimkent and finally to Orenburg in the Russian Federation. The Trans-Asian Railway’s Northern Corridor links Kazakhstan to China, Mongolia, the Russian Federation and the Korean Peninsula.

A new railway line is being built to connect Kazakhstan to Iran and Turkey. Foreign visitors should exercise caution when using trains other than the Almaty–Moscow train; violent crime against Westerners is on the increase.

There are good road connections into the Russian Federation, the other Central Asian states and China.

Bus: Buses leave Chimkent for Tashkent. The journey is 160km (100 miles) (journey time – 3 hours). There are also buses from Chimkent to Bishkek.

Air Astana (website: www.airastana.com) operates frequent domestic flights. While Air Astana does maintain aircraft to European JAR-145 standards, travellers should note that maintenance procedures for some aircraft operating internally may not conform to internationally accepted standards.

Domestic airports include Astana (website: www.astanaairport.com), Almaty (website: www.almatyairport.com), Kyzylorda, Oral and Aktau.

River trips can be taken in Semipalatinsk on the River Irtysh.

There are two TurkSib trains leaving Chimkent daily, one to Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and the other to Novosibirsk (Russian Federation), stopping at destinations in between. The cost of rail travel in Kazakhstan is minimal in comparison with Western Europe and there are regular connections between all the main centres. Queues at stations to buy a ticket can be long and passengers should bring their own food and drink for the journey. It may be advisable for foreign visitors to travel by bus between cities, owing to an increase in robberies on trains.

Traffic drives on the right. There is a reasonable network of roads in Kazakhstan connecting all the towns and regional centres. Petrol supplies are reasonably reliable in comparison with other Central Asian republics.

Bus: There are regular bus connections between all the main cities of Kazakhstan. However, visitors should be aware that bus maintainence is generally poor.

Taxi: These are available in all Kazakh cities. Travellers should not use unlicensed taxis.

Car hire: Available in Almaty and Astana and at the airports.

Documentation: An International Driving Permit is required.

Almaty is served by trolleybuses and buses.