Astral Aviation is a

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airli ...

based in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. It was established in November 2000 and started operations in January 2001. It operates scheduled and non-scheduled/ad-hoc cargo charters, as well as humanitarian-aid flights, to regional destinations in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and to

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

as its only European destination, as of 2023. Its main base is

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is an international airport serving Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airport a ...

, Nairobi. It has one subsidiary operating in India since October 2022, Pradhaan Air Express, which leased an Airbus A320P2F cargo aircraft, thus making it the world's first airline to have such an aircraft in its fleet.

History

Founded in November 2000, Astral Aviation acquired its

Air Operators Certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and ...

(AoC) and Air Service License (ASL) from the

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is a state corporation of Kenya that is responsible for regulating the aviation industry in Kenya and for providing air navigation services in the Kenya flight region. The KCAA offers training in the aviation ...

in January 2001, thus it started operations in the same year in the same month. It was designated as a cargo airline by the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Public Works in November 2006.

Services

The airline operates through and non-stop to 25 regular destinations and 5 charter destinations used for charter operations like food, electronics and medical transport, etc. as well as humanitarian support. It has one subsidiary operating in India based in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, Pradhaan Air Express, since October 2022. Two more subsidiaries are planned to be launched, taking the number to three subsidiaries by 2025. Its second subsidiary will be Suid Cargo Airlines based in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, which will operate to more than 20 destinations in Southern and

Eastern Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

, is expected to be launched by September 2023. Its third subsidiary will be an airline to be launched in 2025, based in Europe.

Destinations

Astral shows the following scheduled and charter destinations in their 2023 online timetable.

Fleet

Current fleet

, the Astral Aviation fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

The airline previously operated the following aircraft (as of July 2023): * 1 Boeing 727-200F * 2 Boeing 737-400F * 2

Boeing 747-400F The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The ''Advanced Series 300'' was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, target ...

, leased from

Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc. is a major American cargo airline, charter airline, passenger charter airline, and Aircraft lease, aircraft lessor based in White Plains, New York. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. Atlas Air is t ...

* 1 Fokker 27-500F, leased from AeroSpace Consortium * 1 Fokker 27F * 1 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30CF

Awards

The airline has won the ''"Africa All-Cargo Carrier of the Year"'' six consecutive times in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023, and the ''"Best All-Cargo Airline in Africa"'' in February 2023, by STAT Times International Award for Excellence in Air Cargo during Air Cargo Africa 2023 event held at

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, from 21 to 23 February 2023.

References

External links

* {{Airlines of Kenya Airlines of Kenya Airlines established in 2000 Cargo airlines of Kenya Kenyan companies established in 2000