The government of Kazakhstan, an ex-Soviet country the size of Western Europe with an average weekly wage of $114, has urged its citizens to make more use of small planes to replace the "anachronism" of long car journeys. Deputy Prime Minister Umirzak Shukeyev on Tuesday announced new laws to cut the paperwork required for flights on private planes, some of which are "no more expensive than a jeep".
"Come to any African country and they have a small runway, they take a small plane when they need to, start it like a car and go shopping to a neighbouring village," Shukeyev told a government meeting. "Driving a car to travel 1,000 kilometres (1,600 miles) is a total anachronism," he said.