# Astral Aviation

Astral Aviation is a cargo airline based in Nairobi, Kenya. 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, Asia and to Liège in Belgium as its only European destination, as of 2023. Its main base is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, 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 (AoC) and Air Service License (ASL) from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority 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, 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, which will operate to more than 20 destinations in Southern and Eastern Africa, 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.
| Country | City | Airport | Notes |
| Belgium | Liège | Liège Airport | |
| China | Guangzhou | Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport | Charter |
| Djibouti | Djibouti City | Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport | Charter |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Hong Kong International Airport | Hub |
| India | Delhi | Indira Gandhi International Airport | |
| India | Mumbai | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport | |
| Israel | Tel Aviv | Ben Gurion Airport | |
| Kazakhstan | Aktobe | Aktobe International Airport | |
| Kenya | Eldoret | Eldoret International Airport | |
| Kenya | Nairobi | Jomo Kenyatta International Airport | Hub |
| Malawi | Lilongwe | Kamuzu International Airport | |
| Mozambique | Maputo | Maputo International Airport | |
| Mozambique | Pemba | Pemba Airport | |
| Rwanda | Kigali | Kigali International Airport | |
| Somalia | Hargeisa | Hargeisa International Airport | Charter |
| Somalia | Mogadishu | Aden Adde International Airport | |
| South Africa | Johannesburg | O. R. Tambo International Airport | Focus city |
| South Sudan | Juba | Juba International Airport | |
| Sudan | Khartoum | Khartoum International Airport | Charter |
| Tanzania | Dar es Salaam | Julius Nyerere International Airport | |
| Tanzania | Mwanza | Mwanza Airport | |
| Tanzania | Zanzibar | Abeid Amani Karume International Airport | |
| Uganda | Kampala | Entebbe International Airport | |
| United Arab Emirates | Dubai | Al Maktoum International Airport | Focus city |
| United Arab Emirates | Sharjah | Sharjah International Airport | Focus city |
| United Kingdom | London | Stansted Airport | Terminated |
| Yemen | Aden | Aden International Airport | Charter |
| Zambia | Lusaka | Kenneth Kaunda International Airport | |
| Zimbabwe | Harare | Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport | |

## Fleet
### Current fleet

As of April 2024, the Astral Aviation fleet consists of the following aircraft:
Astral Aviation fleet :
| Aircraft | In fleet | Orders | Notes |
| Boeing 767-200BDSF | 1 | — | |
| Embraer 190F | — | 2 | Deliveries expected by 2025. |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30CF | 1 | — | |
| Total | 2 | 2 | |

### 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, leased from Atlas Air
* 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 Johannesburg, South Africa, from 21 to 23 February 2023.