Celebrating its 25th anniversary at air cargo Africa, Astral Aviation has become a cornerstone of the region’s airfreight industry. The inspiration to establish the carrier in the 2000 came from the realisation that there was a lack of freighter aircrafts in Africa which hampered the movement of humanitarian cargoes to and within Africa.
For a continent the size of Africa, there were less then a dozen freighter aircrafts flying in the continent, which resulted in most of the air cargo being outsourced to foreign carriers. Hence the reason for establishing Astral Aviation as an all-cargo airline focused on improving capacity and connectivity for air cargo within Africa from its hub in Nairobi. Its journey began as a non-scheduled carrier operating relief, humanitarian and project cargoes until 2009 and, thereafter, transformed into a scheduled carrier to date.
25 years of growth
Astral Aviation’s early fleet included the Antonov-12, which it operated on a wet-lease basis from its base in Nairobi, Kenya.
The aircraft was primarily used for humanitarian aid and relief missions, including air drops in South Sudan. Known for its dependable and safe operations, Astral quickly gained a strong reputation, attracting commercial clients like Panalpina East Africa. This partnership involved transporting mining equipment from Nairobi to Mwanza and, on the return leg, carrying Nile Perch fish fillets to Europe via Martinair Cargo, saving up to four days compared to road transport.
Astral Aviation’s collaboration with Martinair Cargo also paved the way for a key relationship with Kencargo Airlines International (a joint venture between Kenya Airways and KLM-Martinair), which relied on Astral Aviation for a weekly scheduled service on the Nairobi–Lusaka–Lilongwe–Nairobi route. In 2008, Astral Aviation was granted Flag Carrier status, marking a significant milestone for the airline. This recognition allowed the company to begin scheduled flights using the DC9F, while retiring the Antonov-12s to focus on offering more reliable and efficient cargo services across Africa and internationally.
The fleet later expanded to include the B727F and Fokker 27. Since then, Astral Aviation has steadily expanded, driven by a strong focus on operational excellence, tailored customer solutions, and a resilient approach to overcoming the distinctive challenges of the African aviation industry. In 2013, the airline formed a partnership with Network Airline to operate the B747-400F, initially on a wet-lease arrangement with Atlas Air and later with Air Atlanta Icelandic.
This move made Astral Aviation the first and only African airline to operate the B747-400F, further enhancing its capabilities in the global cargo market. Amidst the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, Astral Aviation expanded its fleet with the acquisition of the B767-200F from ATSG, becoming the only African carrier to operate this freighter model. Shortly after, the airline added the B757-200F to further enhance its cargo capabilities.
“Over the course of its history, Astral Aviation has continuously embraced innovation and flexibility, growing its fleet and service offerings to meet a wide range of cargo demands, including perishables, pharmaceuticals, humanitarian aid, and e-commerce,” Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation, stated.
“The company’s success can be attributed to its ability to address logistical challenges across Africa, providing tailored solutions to meet the unique needs of its diverse clientele. “Astral Aviation plays an impactful role in Africa by promoting perishable exports from its hub in Kenya to existing markets in Europe and UAE, and emerging markets in Israel and Saudi Arabia thus supporting the Agriculture sector in Kenya with new export markets. “Its significance in offering connectivity for African Imports from Europe, Middle East and Asia enables improved transit times and the growth of the private sector.
“However, its largest impact is felt in the Intra-African sector by offering low-cost solutions for air cargo shipments to be moved within Africa, thus enabling Africa to trade more with each other as a part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”Celebrating its 25th anniversary in air cargo Africa, Astral Aviation has become a cornerstone of the region’s airfreight industry. The inspiration to establish the carrier in 2000 came from the realisation that there was a lack of freighter aircraft in Africa, which hampered the movement of humanitarian cargoes to and within Africa. For a continent the size of Africa, there were less then a dozen freighter aircrafts flying in the continent, which resulted in most of the air cargo being outsourced to foreign carriers.
Hence the reason for establishing Astral Aviation as an all-cargo airline focused on improving capacity and connectivity for air cargo within Africa from its hub in Nairobi. Its journey began as a non-scheduled carrier operating relief, humanitarian and project cargoes until 2009 and, thereafter, transformed into a scheduled carrier to date. 25 years of growth Astral Aviation’s early fleet included the Antonov-12, which it operated on a wet-lease basis from its base in Nairobi, Kenya.
The aircraft was primarily used for humanitarian aid and relief missions, including air drops in South Sudan. Known for its dependable and safe operations, Astral quickly gained a strong reputation, attracting commercial clients like Panalpina East Africa. This partnership involved transporting mining equipment from Nairobi to Mwanza and, on the return leg, carrying Nile Perch fish fillets to Europe via Martinair Cargo, saving up to four days compared to road transport.
Astral Aviation’s collaboration with Martinair Cargo also paved the way for a key relationship with Kencargo Airlines International (a joint venture between Kenya Airways and KLM-Martinair), which relied on Astral Aviation for a weekly scheduled service on the Nairobi–Lusaka–Lilongwe–Nairobi route. In 2008, Astral Aviation was granted Flag Carrier status, marking a significant milestone for the airline. This recognition allowed the company to begin scheduled flights using the DC9F, while retiring the Antonov-12s to focus on offering more reliable and efficient cargo services across Africa and internationally.
The fleet later expanded to include the B727F and Fokker 27. Since then, Astral Aviation has steadily expanded, driven by a strong focus on operational excellence, tailored customer solutions, and a resilient approach to overcoming the distinctive challenges of the African aviation industry. In 2013, the airline formed a partnership with Network Airline to operate the B747-400F, initially on a wet-lease arrangement with Atlas Air and later with Air Atlanta Icelandic.
This move made Astral Aviation the first and only African airline to operate the B747-400F, further enhancing its capabilities in the global cargo market. Amidst the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, Astral Aviation expanded its fleet with the acquisition of the B767-200F from ATSG, becoming the only African carrier to operate this freighter model. Shortly after, the airline added the B757-200F to further enhance its cargo capabilities.
“Over the course of its history, Astral Aviation has continuously embraced innovation and flexibility, growing its fleet and service offerings to meet a wide range of cargo demands, including perishables, pharmaceuticals, humanitarian aid, and e-commerce,” Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation, stated.
“The company’s success can be attributed to its ability to address logistical challenges across Africa, providing tailored solutions to meet the unique needs of its diverse clientele. “
Astral Aviation plays an impactful role in Africa by promoting perishable exports from its hub in Kenya to existing markets in Europe and UAE, and emerging markets in Israel and Saudi Arabia thus supporting the Agriculture sector in Kenya with new export markets.
“Its significance in offering connectivity for African Imports from Europe, the Middle East and Asia enables improved transit times and the growth of the private sector.
“However, its largest impact is felt in the Intra-African sector by offering low-cost solutions for air cargo shipments to be moved within Africa, thus enabling Africa to trade more with each other as a part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Network developments
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has played an important part in Astral Aviation’s growth due to the excellent infrastructure which enables the consolidation of perishable exports in addition to the trans-shipment of inbound cargo for the continent. With a capacity of 1.5m tonnes of cargo across five world-class cargo terminals, the airport has liberalised the handling of aircraft and cargo under a PPP model, which has proved to be successful. From its home base in Nairobi, Astral Aviation now operates an extensive network spanning over 50 destinations across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, positioning itself as a vital link in the global supply chain. The airline’s scheduled routes connect 10 key African destinations to its global network, while it also offers charter services to more than 50 countries within Africa.
These services support a wide array of cargo, including project cargo, pharmaceuticals, humanitarian supplies, and general freight. With strategic hubs in Africa, as well as in Liege, Dubai, Delhi, and Hong Kong, and an upcoming hub in Guangzhou, Astral Aviation’s Hub and Spoke strategy has enabled it to provide seamless, one-stop solutions for clients worldwide.
“A number of regions in Africa had limited connectivity with the rest of the continent or the outside world, as they were under-served by commercial airlines,” Gadhia expressed.
“An example is the Western part of Tanzania, which experienced a gold-mining boom about 25 years ago, which resulted in Astral Aviation operating flights with mining cargo and equipment from Nairobi to Mwanza with consolidations from Australia and South Africa, which reduced the transit time from 90 days to 10 days. Astral Aviation continues to offer a scheduled service for mining equipment in Tanzania. “Another example was the movement of cargo into Juba, South Sudan, which was totally isolated from the rest of the world following its independence from the Republic of Sudan. Astral Aviation has been operating scheduled flights to this land-locked country since independence and continues to provide a vital link for Africa’s youngest nation.”
Positive impact
Astral Aviation’s presence has presented clear benefits across the continent, ranging from the perishables sector to the humanitarian sector. During the Ebola outbreak and Covid-19 pandemic, Astral Aviation has been at the forefront in distributing PPE’s, medical equipment and vaccines in regions which were isolated from any form of logistics. Astral Aviation continues to provide a vital air bridge for humanitarian cargo across the continent by committing to a priority service for such shipments, and being a dependable and reliable partner to its clients.
“During this time, we delivered 132,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Mumbai to Juba via Nairobi Hub, alongside syringes from Dubai to Juba,” Gadhia stated. “We transported 360,000 vaccine doses from Mumbai to Aden via Nairobi Hub, with syringes from Dubai to Aden, and distributed a total of 885,000 doses across West and East Africa, using a CRJ 200 for efficient delivery.”
Embracing innovation
Throughout its operations, Astral Aviation has made significant investments in advanced technologies, such as digital cargo tracking systems, to enhance operational transparency and efficiency. Through its subsidiary, Astral Aerial Solutions, Astral Aviation is leading the way in drone technology in the region, particularly in utilising large drones for the last-mile delivery of medical and humanitarian supplies.
“Drones have proven to be successful in mid- and last-mile delivery in Africa for medical deliveries including blood, with success stories in Rwanda, Ghana and D R Congo,” Gadhia explained. While the regulatory framework in Kenya is relatively strict due to the security elements, Astral Aviation has worked very closely with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on various pilot projects and capacity building such as locust control, drone deliveries, conservation and reforestation. “The landscape is improving with many CAA’s collaborating with the private sector to promote the safe use of drones, as many African countries adopt drone regulations in addition to providing concessions for drone operations,” Gadhia continued.
“The highest demand is in the agriculture tech, infrastructure and surveillance sector while medical deliveries are dependent in funding. “Astral Aerial has built a strong team of pilots and hardware which it is in a position to deploy at short notice.”
The next milestone
Astral Aviation’s long-term vision is to expand its footprint in Africa by covering regions which are far from our Nairobi Hub such as Southern and West Africa, by setting up hubs in Johannesburg and Lome, respectively, thus offering the largest Pan African freighter network. Furthermore, the company has plans to acquire B777 converted freighters that will enable it to connect freight from China, India, UAE and Europe for our African hubs. “One of our strengths is in our fleet diversity so that we can meet the payload requirements for our clients. We operate certain contracts which enable us to only operate the narrow-body freighter especially intra-Africa, however the wide body aircrafts such as the B767F are used for e-commerce and perishable movements,” Gadhia outlined. “
As a part of its value-proposition, Astral Aviation will be investing in airport infrastructure, such as sea-air terminals and e-commerce fulfilment warehouses in certain countries in Africa.
