Astral Aviation to phase out Boeing 727s

Astral Aviation (ACP: Nairobi, Kenya) is in the process of retiring its Boeing 727 cargo jets. Of the 3 that it had in its fleet, one has already left the fleet. It found a new home in South Sudan. Currently, Astral Aviation has a cargo fleet of one B767, one DC-9-30 and two B757s with delivery of one more expected next year. They also have an order for four 777s, four A330s, two A321s and two E190s. The DC-9-30 is also scheduled to leave the fleet in 2023.

To support their growth they have also been signing interline deals with carriers such as Airlink cargo, Etihad Cargo, SpiceXpress, Atlas Express, Volga-Dnepr Group and Silk Way West.

From the pending deliveries, its easy to see that Astral Aviation has huge growth ambitions. When the order for the B757s was placed, Astral CEO, Sanjeev Gadhia said “From the pending deliveries, it is clear that Astral Aviation is not looking back and will be expanding its fleet and cargo capacity. “We are excited to enter into a lease agreement for three B757-200F aircraft from Aquila Air Capital and SkyExec Capital Jets. The aircraft will take over the Nairobi – Johannesburg and Nairobi – Dubai scheduled service with increased frequency for our clients in addition to new scheduled routes to and within Africa and Middle East in 2022. It will also offer point-to-point solutions for COVID-19 vaccines (from India / UAE to Africa) in addition to E-commerce shipments to new markets.”