Astral Aviation will commence direct cargo service to Mogadishu, Somalia from its hub at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from 14 March.

The all-cargo carrier will fly to the capital of Somalia weekly using DC9 freighters, which offer up to 15 tonnes of capacity.

Astral said the “positive outcome” of the recent London Conference on Somalia and improved security in Mogadishu led to Astral’s decision to fly to the Somali city. Company CEO Sanjeev Gadhia said Astral is also the first cargo carrier to provide scheduled serve to Mogadishu, which is currently constricted by a lack of cargo capacity on passenger aircraft and ships. Mogadishu will also benefit from Astral’s connectivity to the Middle East, Europe, Asia and South Africa via its freight forwarders, interline partners and general sales agents, Gadhia added.

The addition of Mogadishu brings the total number of intra-African
destinations served by Astral to six, including Entebbe, Kigali, Juba, Mwanza and Dar-es-salaam.