Kenyan cargo airline begins scheduled service to Pemba

On June 16, the Kenya-based cargo airline Astral Aviation, began a weekly scheduled service moving freight from its base at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to the city of Pemba in the north of Mozambique, reports news agency AIM. Until now, Astral has been flying into Pemba on an ad hoc basis. However, it has now received clearance from the relevant authorities in Mozambique to launch a scheduled service. The flights will have a capacity of 15 tonnes, and the company will focus on transporting oil and gas equipment from Houston, Aberdeen, Singapore, Dubai and Johannesburg. Nairobi is two hours flying time away from Pemba and Astral intends to make Jomo Kenyatta International Airport the hub for air-logistics into Pemba. According to the company’s CEO, Sanjeev Gadhia, Astral intends to increase the number of flights to twice per week from September. Recent discoveries of huge reserves of minerals and natural gas are driving growth in Mozambique’s aviation industry.