South African cargo start-up\u00a0Suid Cargo Airlines\u00a0(Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) will begin non-scheduled flights from its hub at\u00a0Johannesburg O.R. Tambo\u00a0in the second quarter of 2023 with a\u00a0B727-200(F)\u00a0wet-leased from 25% shareholder\u00a0Astral Aviation\u00a0(8V,\u00a0Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta).<\/p>\n
The Kenyan cargo specialist will also make its fleet of two\u00a0B747-400(BDSF)s, one\u00a0B767-200(SF), and two\u00a0B757-200(PCF)s available to the subsidiary on a charter basis, which will enable Suid Cargo to scale its operations to cover Southern-, West- and East Africa, plus Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Astral Aviation Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Gadhia said in a statement.<\/p>\n
In May 2022, Astral Aviation disclosed to ch-aviation that it was setting up a joint venture AOC in South Africa to be called “Suid” – meaning South in Afrikaans – but asked to keep the news confidential until the air operator’s certificate (AOC) had been finalised. Gadhia has now revealed that Suid Cargo will apply for its AOC by October 2023, as the plan is to operate the wet-leased B727 freighter for six months.<\/p>\n
The airline is setting up another joint venture AOC in Togo, and is leasing its\u00a0A320-200(P2F)\u00a0to Indian start-up\u00a0Pradhaan Air Express\u00a0(6P,\u00a0Delhi International) (of which Astral is not a shareholder) as part of ambitious plans to become a global player.<\/p>\n
The company said it acquired a third B727-200(F) from a US lessor, which will be delivered to\u00a0Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta\u00a0and positioned to\u00a0Johannesburg O.R. Tambo\u00a0once the South African AOC is finalised. Astral Aviation already has two B727-200(Fs) stationed in Nairobi. Later the news emerged it was planning to\u00a0retire the two B727-200(F)s\u00a0in Nairobi. The airline has also suggested that one of the two B757-200(PCF) leased from\u00a0Aquila Air Capital\u00a0could also be based in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
Announcing Suid Cargo Airlines at the sidelines of the recent Air Cargo Africa 2023 conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, accountable manager and chief executive officer Thomas Honiball said the start-up expects to transition to scheduled services in 2024, which will include operating a domestic network in South Africa. He said the company plans to buy more freighters in 2024, including narrowbodies such as A320-200(P2F)s or\u00a0B737-800(F)s, and\u00a0E190\u00a0passenger to freighter (P2F) conversions in 2025. Astral Aviation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with\u00a0Nordic Aviation Capital\u00a0for\u00a0two E190(P2F) freighters\u00a0which, if firmed, will make the Kenyan cargo specialist the type’s global launch operator.<\/p>\n
Commercial Director Kevin Moodley said the new airline plans to promote exports from South Africa and transit shipments to more than 20 African destinations, including Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Zambia, Namibia, DRC, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, and Rwanda. “Sea-to-air” cargo operations from\u00a0Durban King Shaka\u00a0and\u00a0Cape Town\u00a0will reduce transit time to the landlocked regions in Africa.<\/p>\n
Suid Cargo also plans to enter into long-term partnerships with freight forwarders, consolidators, integrators, e-commerce retailers and shipping lines and interlining with African and foreign airlines to promote its Johannesburg hub.<\/p>\n
According to ch-aviation research, Suid Cargo Airlines’ application for a Class II non-scheduled license for the transport of cargo or mail (N2) covering Category A1 aircraft (any fixed-wing aircraft with a maximum certificated mass exceeding 20,000 kilograms) was gazetted in August 2022. The company was registered in South Africa on August 12, 2021, with a head office in Midrand, Gauteng. Gadhia and Moodley are listed as the only directors of the company. South Africa imposes a cap of 25% on foreign ownership of locally-flagged airlines, but Gadhia declined to disclose the identity of the South African shareholders.<\/p>\n
As reported, Astral Aviation is renewing and growing its fleet to expand its reach beyond Africa to Europe and the Far East. With the advent of COVID-19, the all-cargo specialist was well-placed for growth, enabling it to upgrade its fleet with the faster B767-200(SF) wide-body, enabling the company to expand its route network beyond the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South African cargo start-up\u00a0Suid Cargo Airlines\u00a0(Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) will begin non-scheduled flights from its hub at\u00a0Johannesburg O.R. Tambo\u00a0in the second quarter of 2023 with a\u00a0B727-200(F)\u00a0wet-leased from 25% shareholder\u00a0Astral Aviation\u00a0(8V,\u00a0Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta). The Kenyan cargo specialist will also make its fleet of two\u00a0B747-400(BDSF)s, one\u00a0B767-200(SF), and two\u00a0B757-200(PCF)s available to the subsidiary on a charter basis, which will …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[96,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-featured-en"],"yoast_head":"\n