AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan's flag carrier Air Astana plans to add Mumbai as its second destination in India by 2019, the airline's President and CEO Peter Foster said.

The airline operates 10 flights between Kazakhstan and India every week, including a daily service between Almaty and New Delhi and three frequencies between Astana and New Delhi, Indian media report.

"Our first priority is to get our Delhi to Astana flight up to daily. Thereafter, we would like to add Mumbai by 2019," Foster said at a press briefing here.

He said however that the lack of available slots at airports was a problem.

"Airports are increasingly being privatised and slot allocation process has to be seen to be transparent and fair," he said.

"The problem is, and this is throughout the world, that because of grand-fathered rights or slots held at major airports by national carriers, new slots are extremely hard to come by," TOI reported Foster as saying.