SCAT is based at Shymkent Airport in Kazakhstan

As many as 20 people are feared dead after an aircraft operated by SCAT Airlines came down on the outskirts of Kazakhstan commerical capital Almaty.

The plane, on from the northern town of Kokshetau, is reported to have come down in bad weather as it approached to land.

“When landing in bad weather at the time of discontinued approach, the plane hit the ground,” the airline told the Interfax news agency.

Some 15 passengers and five crew were killed when the plane came down.

Last month a military plane carrying senior Kazakh security officials crashed in the south of the country, killing all 27 on board.