FlyArystan A320 damaged by fire during ground maintenance in Almaty

A fire broke out on board a FlyArystan Airbus A320-family jet during maintenance at Almaty airport on 28 August, Air Astana Group has confirmed.

The group described it as a workplace incident that occurred during routine maintenance on the aircraft. No passengers or crew were on board at the time. An employee of the group was injured in the fire, the company said. The worker was treated in hospital and has since been discharged.

Air Astana Group said the fire was localised and was quickly brought under control by the airport's emergency services. Footage circulating on social media appeared to show smoke and flames coming from a hatch near the nose landing gear of the affected aircraft.

The jet involved, registered EI-KBN, was originally delivered to Vistara in 2015 and is fitted with International Aero Engines V2500 engines. It has been withdrawn from service while engineers assess the extent of the damage and work out what repairs are needed.

Air Astana Group said it is working with the airport operator to determine the cause of the fire. FlyArystan, the group's low-cost subsidiary, operates a fleet made up of both A320ceo and A320neo variants.