Air Astana Group has long been known for its award-winning customer experience, serving 107 routes in 22 countries. Founded in 2001, this internationally recognised airline operates a growing fleet of 60 aircraft.
As a Group listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), Astana International Exchange (AIX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Air Astana’s dedication to delivering the highest standards of services earned it multiple recognitions. These include the 2024 Airline Business Award at Airline Strategy Awards and the 2025 APEX Best Overall Airline in Central Asia Award.
With its growing fleet and network expansion, Air Astana sought a secure, centralised solution to manage its board and committee meetings across languages and locations. The airline, after testing multiple applications, opted for Convene as the most optimal board portal for their needs.
The Search for a Secure and Scalable Board Portal
Dealing with documentation demands and a multilingual working environment, Air Astana needed a reliable board management solution. Aigul Abylkanova, Senior Manager at Air Astana, shared, “We’re looking for an application for distributing board meeting materials, managing agendas, and documents quickly and securely, and allowing for the review of meetings.” Their main criteria included ease of use, an English- and Russian-language interface, cost-effectiveness, and responsive client support.
Air Astana evaluated up to seven vendors only to disqualify the majority due to either the absence of a Russian-language interface or high costs. The only board portal that ticked off their criteria is Convene. According to Abylkanova, “Convene was chosen based on its price, technical characteristics, feedback on usability, and client support.” The availability of a Russian interface, intuitive functionality, and ease of use were critical factors in the final decision.
Air Astana ran a pilot testing of Convene during the November 2020 Board and Committee meetings. Convene was well-received by attendees, some noting its intuitiveness, leading to its official implementation in 2021.
Simplified, Secure, and Multilingual Board Management
Since 2021, Convene has been used extensively by Air Astana’s board, executives, and the Corporate Secretary service. In particular, the board management solution helps the airline’s workflows through:
- Dual Language Support and Offline Access — Gives Air Astana access to different language preferences and guarantees uninterrupted access to documents, both online and offline.
- Agenda Builder and Meeting Scheduler — Simplifies the creation of meeting agendas and consolidates meeting preparation and scheduling in one platform, reducing reliance on external tools.
- Document Library and Review Rooms — Combines a secure, centralised repository for board materials with dedicated space for reviewing and approving documents, streamlining the entire governance workflow.
- Enterprise-Grade Security — Ensures Air Astana complies with international standards through features like encrypted data transmission, role-based permissions, and system logs for accountability.
Abylkanova further explained, “Convene has helped streamline the management of meeting materials. Previously, they were sent via Outlook, which cluttered inboxes, took a long time to download, and was difficult to archive large volumes of documentation.”
Lastly, Air Astana also noted how Convene’s support team has remained responsive and continually assists its administrators and users, “The Support team in most cases always tries to help with all issues”.
Why Air Astana Recommends Convene
Air Astana’s transition to Convene has yielded measurable improvements in its board workflows and overall governance. Its information delivery is faster and more secure, collaboration is now more seamless, and document control is significantly improved.
“Yes, we would definitely recommend Convene to other organisations. It’s user-friendly and easier to use, compared to other programmes,” Abylkanova concluded, “The constant support of the team is also a big advantage.”
Learn more about Convene and its features by requesting a demo now!