ASTANA, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan may need 60-70 new passenger liners by 2015 given the growing volume of air carriages, Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov said Thursday.
Commenting on the draft program for civil aviation development, he said new liners were needed "to ensure flight safety and air security."
He also said Kazakh airports needed to be modernized under the program.
According to forecasts, the volume of passengers on commercial liners in the Central Asian republic would grow from 2.2 million passengers in 2005 to 11.7 million in 2015.
About 30 airliners, including 12 western planes, are currently operating regular passengers planes in Kazakhstan. Kazakh airlines have about 690 vehicles, including some 120 passengers planes, mainly An-24 and Yak-40 outdated models.
