Weekly scheduled freighter service from Nairobi to Lokichar in the Turkana province of Kenya, has been suspended. The service, which began in June 2014, using a Fokker F27 freighter aircraft, assisted operations in the oil-rich Lokichar basin, which has fallen sharply due to the low price of oil, according to Business Daily.
London-based Tullow Oil has scaled back its operations in the region due to the drop in oil exploration demand. The Astral Aviation service to Lokichar delivered supplies to oil crews in the basin.
Astral, the largest private cargo airline in Eastern Africa, had planned to bring larger aircraft into the region, using the privately owned Kapese airstrip in South Turkana province, but it is now pulling back. The airstrip has been undergoing a US$1.6 million upgrade, initiated by Tullow, to accommodate bigger aircraft.
“We have pulled out of the Lokichar route for the time being as we wait for business to go up before resuming our operations,” said Sanjeev Gadhia, Astral Aviation’s CEO. “This is just a short break, and we expect to resume our business partnership with Tullow once there is enough cargo to transport.”
Astral has diverted the F27 aircraft to Djibouti, where it is interlining with a local partner airline to transport goods in the Horn of Africa.
The opening of the airstrip, which is mainly used by Tullow, significantly improved efficiency in the area; before it was built, flights had to land in the town of Lodwar, 193 miles away by road. The slow business is likely to affect the town of Lokichar, town which was becoming a major investment magnet resulting from the oil business.