Astro Air International

  1973 to May 2022

  Philippines

TYPE: Airline

IATA/ICAO CODES: 8Y / AAV

HEADQUARTERS: Manila, Luzon

OTHER NAMES: Astro Air International (1973-2011), Spirit of Manila Airlines (2011-2016), Pan Pacific Airlines (2016-2022)

Astro was founded in 1973 by Filipino-Chinese entrepreneur Donald Dee - it is also sometimes mentioned under the names Astro Air Transport or Astro Airways. It initially operated a mixed fleet of DC3's, Convair 240/440 and Commandos, with very few details existing about the type of operations conducted. A Boeing 707 later joined the fleet.

In 2011, the airline relaunched as Spirit of Manila Airlines, with a Boeing 737 and a pair of MD83's. After another name change in 2016 as Pan Pacific Airlines, the company ended up flying a single Airbus A320 before folding in May 2022.

1977* to unknown date

Astro operated two Commandos.

• Curtiss C-46F-1-CU Commando: RP-C1132
• Smith Super 46C Commando: RP-C1145