Astral Aviation appoints chief commercial officer

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Astral Aviation has appointed Patricia Odida as chief commercial officer, effective April 1.

Odida was previously head of cargo optimisation, pricing and revenue manager for two years.

She will take over this new role following the retirement of Charles Simiyu, who was commercial director/chief commercial officer.

Meanwhile, Astral’s founder and chief executive Sanjeev Gadhia recently confirmed plans for the Kenya-headquartered cargo airline to grow its fleet and global reach.

As part of these expansion efforts, Astral appointed Air Logistics Group as GSSA in Europe, the UK and US as it gears up for growth into these regions in 2023.

Etihad Cargo and Astral Aviation also signed a partnership in February that aims to help expand the Middle Eastern carrier’s presence in the African market.

In the same month, the cargo division of Kenya Airways (KQ Cargo) and Astral Aviation signed a codeshare agreement.

The codeshare is expected to support air trade flows between Africa and the Middle East.

At the Air Cargo Africa event in February, Gadhia said that the biggest challenge faced by air cargo in Africa is a lack of liberalisation.

He said this had resulted in partnerships between African carriers and non-African carriers being prioritised over continental partnerships.

Astral Aviation aims for growth

Small airlines bottom of the pile for SAF

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Rebecca Jeffrey

Rebecca Jeffrey
New to aviation journalism, I joined Air Cargo News in late 2021 as deputy editor. I previously worked for Mercator Media’s six maritime sector magazines as a reporter, heading up news for Port Strategy. Prior to this, I was editor for Recruitment International (now TALiNT International). Contact me on: [email protected]