Astral Aviation to Add MD-83SFs for Intra-African Cargo Operations

Posted 08/08/2011

Kenyan cargo carrier Astral Aviation is planning to expand its intra-African network following the arrival of six new aircraft next year.  The Nairobi-based venture currently has a fleet of three Douglas DC-9 Freighters and access to Boeing 727 and 737 models as well as some smaller regional turboprop types.  However, it will acquire six McDonnell Douglas MD-83SFs in 2012 and plans expansion across the continent.

Astral Aviation currently offers scheduled freight flights from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the Kenyan capital to Dar es Salaam and Mwanza in Tanzania; Entebbe, Uganda; Juba, South Sudan and Kigali, Rwanda on a weekly or twice weekly basis.  It plans to fly to a number of new markets and has highlighted Angola, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe for future development.

Alongside its scheduled operations Astral Aviation also offers charter capacity and has been involved in a number of emergency relief operations in Africa most notably the Niamey Famine, the Darfur Crisis, the Southern Sudan Relief Operations, the Mozambique & Madagascar Floods, the Eastern Congo Crisis, the Goma Volcano Eruption, and Humanitarian Crises in Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

---

With effect from March 19, 2012 the Breaking News coverage on Routesonline is powered by Airline Route.  For more analysis on these stories please read our expanded coverage of the key stories of the day in The HUB. 

You can also keep up to date with the latest network development news by following the live updates from @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes, @RouteExchange and @airlineroute on Twitter.  While all the latest news from our events can be seen by searching the #RoutesAfrica, #RoutesAmericas, #RoutesAsia, #RoutesCIS, #RoutesEurope and #WorldRoutes hashtags.

All material is copyright of UBM Aviation Routes but the views expressed are not necessarily the views of UBM Aviation Routes and the company shall therefore not be liable for the contents of any article that appears on the site.  Although the best efforts have been taken in collecting and checking the material we can not and do not warrant that the information contained in this product is complete or accurate and does not assume and hereby disclaims liability to any person for any loss of damage caused by errors or omissions.

PLEASE NOTE: From March 7, 2012 schedule data for all news stories has been extracted from OAG Schedules iNET; All GDS data is based on a live GDS update on the day of publication; Traffic data extracted from IATA BSP system for the year ending December 2011.  All information is subject to change.