JAN - FEB 2018 LUA 31Network Airline Management and Astral Aviation sign
long-term lease of new 747-400F
Royal Air Maroc commences
freighter service to Casablanca
from Frankfurt AirportKenya Airways to start non-stop daily
flight to New York on October 28
A
stral Aviation and Network Airline
Management (NAM) have signed
a long-term wet lease with Air Atlanta
Icelandic adding a factory-built, nose-
loader B747-400F to their existing
managed fleet of three MD11Fs. This
will enable NAM to develop their
presence in Africa, and especially the
Kenyan perishables market, adding
capacity for flowers and vegetables from
Nairobi to the UK.
Sanjeev Gadhia, Astral Aviation
founder and CEO, says, “The newly
acquired B747-400F from Air Atlanta
Icelandic will strengthen our position as a
market-leader in perishable exports from
Kenya to the UK market. Furthermore,
the B747F will feed its intra-African net-
work in Nairobi with cargo, which will be
consolidated in its Liege hub originating
from Europe and the US.”
Andy Leslie, group chairman, NAM
says, “We are excited to enter into this
agreement with Astral Aviation and Air
Atlanta Icelandic and look forward to a
long and successful partnership enablingus to further expand our network.”
The B747-400F made its inaugu-
ral flight from Stansted (STN) to Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in
Nairobi in November. The group expects
to handle around 33,000 tonnes of perish-
able exports from East Africa to Europe
per year. The nose-loader B747F will also
enable the group to attract out-sized oil,
gas and mining equipment for West and
East Africa, which is expected to increase
following the high oil prices experienced
during the past week.M
orocco’s state owned carrier, Royal Air
Maroc has launched a new twice-weekly
freighter service from Frankfurt Airport to
Casablanca. Since early November, the airline
has been operating a B737-F from Frankfurt
to Casablanca. In the first quarter of 2018,
the airline intends to switch over to a B767-F,
thus significantly increasing its capacity.
Felix Kreutel, SVP Cargo at Fraport AG,
said, “Royal Air Maroc’s extensive network of
routes to Africa and South America opens up
new and interesting connections to these mar-
kets for our customers. The South American
market is currently experiencing above-
average growth, after a period of prolonged
recession. Royal Air Maroc offers us the op-
portunity to participate in this growth.”
Over the next couple of years, the airline
also plans to deploy two more freighter
aircraft from Frankfurt Airport. The airlines’
cargo division currently transports around
25,000 metric tonnes of freight every year.
The airline’s passenger division has been fly-
ing from Frankfurt for many years.T
he national car-
rier, Kenya Airways is
scheduled to fly non-stop
flight from Nairobi to
New York starting Oc-
tober 28 this year. The
booking for these flights
are open now. Kenya
Airways will be the first airline to offer a non-stop flight between East Africa and
the US.
The airline already serves Africa, Europe, Middle-East, Indian sub-continent
and Asia. The opening of the US destination completes an essential piece for
Kenya Airways’ network, cementing its position as one of the leading African
carriers.
“This is an exciting moment for us. It fits within our strategy to attract cor-
porate and high-end tourism traffic from the world to Kenya and Africa. We are
honored to contribute to the economic growth of Kenya and East Africa.” said
Sebastian Mikosz, managing director and CEO, Kenya Airways Group.
The launch of daily flights is expected to further spur trade between America
and Africa. It will be the fastest connection from East Africa to New York, with 15
hours duration eastbound and 14 hours westbound.
The airline will operate Boeing 787 Dreamliner with a capacity of 234 passen-
gers. This flight will allow connections to and from over 40 African destinations
through Kenya Airways hub in Nairobi.