Astral Aviation

Cargo hubs & stations

The station list is deliberately left empty. The carrier's schedule pages name aircraft types that are, by its own account, no longer in service, and the linked schedule file dates from July 2020. No reliable current station list is therefore available; destinations should be confirmed with the carrier or a GSA.

• LGGLiège AirportCargo hub
• JNBO.R. Tambo International AirportCargo hub
• NBOJomo Kenyatta International AirportPrimary cargo hub

Fleet & capacity

The airline does not publish aircraft numbers per type. The type list comes from its corporate page (as of September 2026); another page of the same website announces a switch to Boeing 737-800F and Airbus A330-300F for 2025/2026. Confirm capacity with the carrier before booking.

Special cargo

Products

Availability may vary by station, route and aircraft type.

Astral Aviation Limited is a Kenyan cargo airline headquartered at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi. The company obtained its Air Operator Certificate and Air Service Licence from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority in 2001 and was designated a cargo airline by Kenya's Ministry of Transport in November 2006. It operates under its own AOC and, according to the African Airlines Association, is wholly Kenyan-owned. Astral runs its own freighters and offers scheduled services alongside charter, ACMI and leasing. On its corporate page the airline lists the Boeing 737-400F (18 tonnes payload), Boeing 767-200F (42 tonnes) and Boeing 767-300F (52 tonnes); it does not publish aircraft numbers (as of September 2026). The carrier names Nairobi, Dubai, Johannesburg and Liège as its hubs. Its intra-African network covers around 50 destinations by its own account, served partly on a scheduled and partly on an ad-hoc charter basis. This is complemented by interline agreements with more than 60 partners and representation by over 25 GSAs worldwide. For forwarders: Astral uses IATA code 8V, ICAO code ACP and AWB prefix 485. The company is a member of the IATA Clearing House and is listed in IATA's CargoLink directory as an active e-Freight participant. Shipments can be traced via the astral.fr8booking.com portal. The product range is structured as Astral Express, Astral Protect, Astral Pharma, Astral DGR and Astral Fresh; dangerous goods, perishables, temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals, live animals and valuable cargo are recorded with IATA as specialities. Note the group structure: under the published charter terms, charter contracts are concluded by Astral Aviation FZC, based in SAIF Zone Sharjah (UAE). That company holds no AOC of its own and acts solely as an arranger; the actual carrier remains the airline named in the charter agreement.

Sources

• Astral Aviation – Unternehmensprofil · Identity, fleet, hubs, network, contact
• IATA Clearing House Member List (06.08.2026) · IATA code 8V, AWB prefix 485, member status Live
• FAA Contractions Handbook, Kap. 3 – ICAO-Kennungen und Telefonie · ICAO code ACP, callsign ASTRAL CARGO, legal name, state of registry
• UK Civil Aviation Authority – OperatorCodes · IATA code 8V and ICAO code ACP, state of registry Kenya
• IATA CargoLink – Astral Aviation Ltd · Specialities, e-Freight, postal address, contact
• Astral Aviation – Charter Terms and Conditions · Group structure, role of Astral Aviation FZC (Sharjah)