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 cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline cargo traf ...

based in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, Kenya. It was established in November 2000 and started operations in January 2001. It operates scheduled and non-scheduled/ad hoc cargo charters to regional destinations in Africa and to

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

in Belgium. Its main base is

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

, Nairobi.

Destinations

Astral shows the following scheduled destinations in their 2017 online timetable. ;Belgium *

Liège Airport Liege Airport, nl, Luchthaven Luik, german: Flughafen Lüttich , previously called Liege-Bierset Airport,, nl, Luchthaven Luik-Bierset is an international airport located west of the city of Liège, Wallonia in Belgium. The airport mainly fo ...

;Rwanda *

Kigali International Airport Kigali International Airport , formerly known as Kanombe International Airport, is the primary airport serving Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Currently, there is an ongoing project to build another mega-airport in Bugesera District, Eastern Pro ...

;Somalia *

Hargeisa International Airport Egal International Airport (), ( so, Madaarka Caalamiga a ee Cigaal ar, مطار هرجيسا إيغال الدولية) is an airport in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, named after Somaliland's second president Muhammad Haji Ibrahim E ...

* Mogadishu International Airport ;South Sudan *

Juba Airport Juba () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevate ...

;Tanzania *

Dar Es Salaam Airport Julius Nyerere International Airport is the international airport of Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania. It is located approximately southwest of the city centre. The airport has flights to destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, an ...

Mwanza Airport Mwanza International Airport is a major regional airport in northern Tanzania serving the city of Mwanza. It is located near the southern shores of Lake Victoria approximately from the city. It serves as the main hub for Auric Air and a second ...

Zanzibar International Airport Abeid Amani Karume International Airport ( sw, Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kimataifa wa Abeid Amani Karume, ) is the main airport in the Zanzibar Archipelago located on Unguja Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania. It is approximately south of Zanzibar City, th ...

;United Kingdom *

London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

Fleet

Current fleet

, The Astral Aviation fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

The airline previously operated the following aircraft (as of March 2015): * 2

Boeing 737-400F The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

* 1

Boeing 747-400F The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range Wide-body aircraft, 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 ...

, leased from

Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase, New York. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boei ...

* 1 Fokker 27-500F, leased from AeroSpace Consortium * 1 Fokker 27F

Awards

*Africa all Cargo Carrier of the year: 2011 *Africa all Cargo Carrier of the year: 2013 *Africa all Cargo Carrier of the year: 2015 *Africa all Cargo Carrier of the year: 2017 *Africa all Cargo Carrier of the year: 2019

References

External links

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