Astral Aviation has signed its first formal partnership agreement (MOU) with disaster response nonprofit Airlink. In the agreement, Astral Aviation promises to transport 50 tons of humanitarian aid over the next year.
Airlink will utilize the cargo space to support the movement of humanitarian aid across Astral Aviation’s network, already leveraging this partnership in order to support a shipment of medicines and medical supplies to South Sudan. The supplies were donated by Airlink’s NGO partner, Partners for World Health, to an additional member of Airlink’s network, IMA World Health, and will be distributed in flood-affected regions in the Great Upper Nile region, as well as in health facilities along South Sudan’s border with Uganda.
Astral Aviation operates a network that connects East Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe via hubs in Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Dubai. The agreement will enable nonprofit Airlink to support humanitarian relief efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“As Astral Aviation we see the partnership with Airlink as an important opportunity to support some of the humanitarian efforts in the sub-Saharan region so as to help alleviate the suffering of some of the war-ravaged and disaster-stricken population,” said Sanjeev Gadhia, the CEO of Astral Aviation Limited.
“The humanitarian nonprofit community is under huge resource pressures stemming from COVID responses, the war in Ukraine, inflation, and economic downturns. Airline commitments like the one Astral Aviation is making allow Airlink and our nonprofit partners to react to immediate needs. It also enables us to support communities with long-term recovery and systemic issues, such as in healthcare,” said Steven J. Smith, President, and CEO of Airlink.
