Astral Aviation aids humanitarian mission in Juba

Following the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan in December 2013, Astral Aviation has uplifted in excess of 1000 tons of relief and humanitarian shipments into Juba.

Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation said: “The crisis in South Sudan took us by surprise considering that Astral has been operating into South Sudan for over eight years and operates a dedicated ground handling and warehouse at the airport.”

Astral responded to the crisis by arranging evacuation flights using DC9 and Embraer 120 Passenger Aircrafts, and was amongst the first to land in Juba.

Astral evacuated in excess of 500 people safely into the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

Cargo relief onboard a DC9 and B727 included medicines, shelter items and food for various aid agencies and NGO’s into Juba.

In addition to the crisis in South Sudan, Astral’s services were utilised into Bangui in Central African Republic which is facing an equally challenging humanitarian crisis. Astral has performed humanitarian flights for diplomats and relief cargoes in the last week of December 2013 and continues to operate charters into Bangui.