Aquila Air Capital Leases 3 Boeing Freighter Aircraft to Astral Airlines



Aquila Air Capital, a specialty finance platform focused on commercial aerospace, signed operating leases for three Boeing 757-200F freighter aircraft with Astral Airlines. SkyExec Capital Jets acted as arranger and will service the lease during the term. The aircraft are expected to be delivered to Astral starting this month upon completion of scheduled maintenance.

“We are delighted to bring on Astral Airlines as a customer,” Al Wood, CEO of Aquila Air Capital, said. “At Aquila, we are uniquely focused on providing cost effective and flexible solutions for our customers to manage through these unprecedented times. We look forward to this being the beginning to a long-term relationship with Astral to help facilitate their future growth.”

“We are excited to enter into a lease agreement for three B757-200F aircraft from Aquila Air Capital and SkyExec Capital Jets,” Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Airlines, said. “The aircraft will take over the Nairobi-Johannesburg and Nairobi-Dubai scheduled service with increased frequency for our clients in addition to new scheduled routes to and within Africa and Middle East in 2022. It will also offer point-to-point solutions for COVID-19 vaccines (from India/UAE to Africa) in addition to e-commerce shipments to new markets.”

“The B757-200F will complement the Astral fleet with new and efficient options to and within its existing scheduled and charter freighter network, which comprises of over 50 destinations in Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia,” Satvir Kalsi, commercial director in UAE for Astral Airlines, said.

“With this agreement, Astral Aviation will become the largest B757F operator in Africa and Middle East, in addition to being the only B767F operator in the region,” Michael Mutahi, COO of Astral Airlines, said. “The B757F is a fuel-efficient, mid-range and narrow-body freighter with a payload of up to 30 tons and a range of five hours, which makes it a perfect freighter for the African, Middle East and Southeast Asia region.”


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