New partnership gives a fresh look to African cargo business

The launch of the B747-400 Freighter took place at the Ostend International Airport in Belgium last week, in an event attended by the founders of ANA Aviation, Andy Leslie and Andy King, along with the CEO of Astral Aviation, Sanjeev Gadhia, and Atlas Air’s Tony Carder, along with over 100 guests from Europe, Asia, USA and Canada.

The B747-400 Freighter will initially operate twice weekly on a triangle route from Ostend, southbound to Lagos, Port Harcourt and Malabo, and will then ferry to Nairobi where it will uplift perishables bound for London Manston and Ostend.

According to Gadhia – ANA Aviation Services, UK and its counterpart, Network Airline Services, have been its GSA in Europe, USA, UAE, India and South Africa, for the past ten years due to their extensive knowledge and experience in Africa. The B747 venture enables Astral to market perishable exports from Kenya to Europe which is growing rapidly and dominated entirely by foreign carriers.

In addition, the B747F will provide inbound capacity for Astral’s shipments in Europe and USA for onward connectivity to its expanding intra-African network comprising of Juba (South Sudan), Pemba (Mozambique), Mogadishu (Somalia), Dar-es-salaam, Mwanza and Mtwara (Tanzania), Entebbe (Uganda) and Kigali (Rwanda)

Leslie said "We are very excited with this new venture with our long term partner and friend Astral Aviation. The Boeing 747 Factory Built Freighter with nose loading capability means we can offer payloads of up to 120,000 kilos as well as accepting long and oversize pieces giving a new dimension to our business to and from Africa as well as the availability of ad-hoc
charter capacity on a worldwide basis"

Despite the global slowdown on air cargo and excess capacity which has resulted in low-growth for the industry, ANA and Astral remain bullish on the trade between Europe and Africa, and the growth of air freight between the two regions.

The increase in demand for oil and gas equipment in West Africa combined with the growth in perishables traffic from East Africa to Europe will be the primary focus for the partners as they combine their experience and local knowledge to create a sustainable schedule on the Atlas B747-400F.

October also marks the launch of a code-share flight between Emirates and Astral Aviation on the Johannesburg – Nairobi sector once a week utilizing the B777F. This sector will be marketed by Astral’s newly appointed South African GSA, Network Airline Services, and aims to provide a reliable service for perishables, motor-vehicles, mining and project cargoes for onward connectivity to Astral’s network.
 

Pictured from L-R: Atlas Air’s Tony Carder, ANA’s Andy King, Astral’s Sanjeev Gadhia and ANA’s Andy Leslie in Ostend Airport at the launch of the B747-400F