"Strict sanctions are necessary," said the deputy, urging for harsher penalties for delayed flights.

“The meal vouchers were only given after registration, just when I was rushing to board the plane with my children. Why do we need meal vouchers before boarding the flight? And for passenger Bakytzhan Bazarbek, they didn’t even consider it necessary to issue a meal voucher,” writes the member of parliament.

According to the deputy, such irresponsibility reflects a callous attitude from the company's top management towards both passengers and the country's legislation.

“It feels like Peter Foster (the head of Air Astana – ed.) is saying: I don’t care about your laws under Nazarbayev, I don’t care about your laws under the current president either,” writes the deputy.

The deputy added that appeals to government agencies encounter resistance, which he attributes to lobbying for the airline's interests and the notion that the airline is “too big to handle” for government bodies.

“One thing is clear. There needs to be strict sanctions in the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan for unjustified flight delays and cancellations, for not providing comfortable conditions for passengers, for infringing on passenger rights, and for imposing unreasonable onerous conditions in contracts when purchasing, exchanging, and refunding airline tickets. Other carriers should also be held accountable!” writes Bazarbek.

Meanwhile, back in mid-November, the Ministry of Transport posted a draft resolution on the open NPA website that proposes doubling fines for flight delays.

Representatives of Air Astana commented on the situation involving Bazarbek under his publication. They attributed the flight delay to the late arrival of the aircraft. The reason why the member of parliament did not receive a meal voucher is currently being investigated by the airline.

Additionally, Air Astana representatives noted that the flight was delayed by three hours and fifty minutes.

“The airline provides meal and beverage vouchers for flight delays of four hours or more,” the comment states.

However, Bakytzhan Bazarbek was not the only passenger facing issues during recent flights with Air Astana. Earlier, Orda.kz reported on passengers traveling to Bangkok and Pattaya who waited eight hours for hot meals due to delays. We have asked Air Astana representatives for comments on this situation as well and are currently awaiting a response from the airline.