Private company
Logo: Astral Aviation, PD, via Wikipedia3
Kenyan cargo airline
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 2023.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
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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.2
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.
From Wikipedia’s article on Astral Aviation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
The airline operates through and non-stop to 25 regular destinations and 5 charter destinations used for charter operations carrying food, electronics and medical supplies, 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. A third subsidiary airline was announced for launch in 2025
Astral shows the following scheduled and charter destinations in their 2023 online timetable and announcements.
As of July 2026, Astral Aviation operates the following aircraft:
As of August 2025, Astral Aviation operated 1 Boeing 737-400SF, 1 Boeing 767-200BDSF and 1 Boeing 767-300ER(BDSF).
The airline also 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
From Wikipedia’s article on Astral Aviation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
