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From Kenya to Kent

[ October 8, 2013   //   ]

Manston Airport is the destination for a new freighter joint venture between UK-based ANA Aviation Services and Astral Aviation of Kenya. A wet-leased Atlasair 747-400F will operate initially twice-weekly from Ostend to lagos, Port Harcourt and Malabo, from where it will fly empty to Nairobi and then uplift perishables for Manston and Ostend.

According to Astral CEO, Sanjeev Gadhia, the Kenya to Europe fresh produce market is currently dominated entirely by foreign carriers.

The 747F will also provide a link to Astral’s intra-Africa network which comprises Juba in South Sudan, Pemba, (Mozambique), Mogadishu (Somalia), Dar-es-salaam, Mwanza and Mtwara (Tanzania), Entebbe (Uganda) and Kigali (Rwanda).

ANA Aviation chairman Andy Leslie added: “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”

The two partners are bullish about the prospects for trade between Europe and Africa, despite the global slowdown in aircargo due to increasing demand for oil and gas equipment in West Africa and the growth in perishables traffic from East Africa to Europe.

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