Kazakhstan establishes legal framework for eVTOL operators and Urban Air Mobility

Image: Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has become the first in the post-Soviet space to institute a legal framework for commercializing Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and integrating them into its national airspace.

On June 24, the President of Kazakhstan signed into law a regulatory package amending several acts, including the foundational law “On the Use of Airspace of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Aviation Activity.” The legislation transitions electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) operations from experimental trial flights to fully commercialized services.

With these new standards, Kazakhstan joins a short list of forward-leaning jurisdictions—alongside the FAA (US), EASA (EU), CAAC (China), and MOLIT (South Korea)—with dedicated legislation to certify and oversee unmanned and innovative piloted aircraft systems.

Specifically, the law establishes the statutory definition of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) for the first time, bifurcating it into urban and regional segments. Concurrently, it creates the regulatory blueprint for eVTOL deployment, defines the legal status of vertiports, and introduces new certification pathways for OEMs, UAM operators, and civil remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).

Additionally, the framework mandates the rollout of a digital Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) platform to manage flight tracking, remote identification, automated routing, and airspace coordination. Dedicated provisions also address cybersecurity protocols and digital infrastructure standards required to support autonomous systems at scale.

The legislation further streamlines civil drone regulations, refining registration processes, airworthiness standards, and flight operations.

This regulatory milestone marks the completion of a key phase in Kazakhstan’s strategy to launch commercial UAM services, an initiative that has gained significant momentum over the past year.

Nationwide UAM development is overseen directly by Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev, with cross-agency coordination driven by the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development.

The primary proving ground and commercial hub for the nation’s UAM infrastructure will be the city of Alatau, where a dedicated regulatory sandbox took effect on July 1, 2026. Construction is already underway in Alatau for the UAM Center Eurasia—the region’s first specialized vertiport and advanced mobility hub.