Lufthansa Cargo expands activities in Africa

LUFTHANSA Cargo is offering seven new destinations in Africa in cooperation with the Kenyan cargo carrier Astral Aviation. Under the accord with the Kenyan airline, Lufthansa Cargo MD11 freighters will fly cargo to Nairobi from where it will be distributed to five other African states on freighters operated by Astral Aviation.

The African airline operates once-weekly flights on Tuesdays to Bujumbura (BJM) in Burundi and Dar Es Salaam (DAR) in Tanzania. On Wednesdays, it offers connections to Mwanza (MWZ) in Tanzania and Juba (JUB) in Sudan. A flight to Zanzibar (ZNZ) in Tanzania on Mondays augments the new network services. Further capacities to available to Uganda: on Mondays and Thursdays to Entebbe (EBB), as well as to Kigali (KGL) on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Astral Aviation has been operating in the African market since 2001 with a fleet of DC9 and Fokker 27 freighters as well as Antonov 12 and Cessna Caravan aircraft. From its dual hubs at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and the airport of the north-kenian city of Lokichoggio, the African carrier serves a total of 50 African destinations.

Also Jade Cargo International, the sino-german joint venture freight airline of Lufthansa Cargo, has Africa on its flight schedule since 15 April 2009 and connects the continent with India and China. The twice-weekly flights from Shanghai with a Boeing 747-400ERF are routed through Shenzhen to Chennai and then via Sharjah to Lagos (LOS) in Nigeria. On the return flight from Lagos, the freighter flies via Sharjah back to China.

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