Camair-co plummeting while two Chinese MA60 aircrafts remain grounded

Since the official presentation ceremony of the two Chinese MA60 aircraft used for domestic flights on April 7, 2015, the aircrafts have been inadequate especially without the Boeing aircraft belonging to the Ethiopian Airlines and currently at the workshop.

Information reaching the Ministry of Transport (MINTRANS) indicates that the aircrafts are on standby. The process is ongoing and the Ministère des Transports has completed all its procedures according to sources.

It was also revealed that the ministry directed the plane to Cameroon since the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority could not accomplish it as they were registered under the military regime.

The Finance Ministry will formally assign the aircraft to Camair-Co which will acquire the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA) registration numbers.

The two MA60 aircraft, once operational, are expected to change the face of Camair-Co allowing the national airline to focus on domestic, sub-regional and international flights within the African continent.

New destination flights include Douala, Garoua, Maroua, Ngaoundere, Tiko, Bertoua, Bamenda-Bafut, Bafoussam and Yaounde-Bamoungoum.

Explanations by Transport Minister

In early April in a Sunday afternoon edition of "grilled" on CRTV dedicated to Chinese MA60 aircraft, the Transport Minister (MINTRANS), Prof. Robert Nkili, revealed among other things, about the inability of the aircraft to fly: "I can give the following information; according to the authorities of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), to obtain the registration number and put the aircraft in service: the first step, the sovereign state which acquired these aircraft assigns the numbers it wants to it now.

"Once the planes are there or are in arrears, it must observe a number of things to be completed by the Icao (technical, security documents, etc.) ... at that time, the authorities of the ICAO estimate that this aircraft can already be used in international civil aviation. That's why I was in Montreal for concern of being told what is happening at that aircraft certification.

"We agreed that the working session must be the culmination of all this before completely releasing the aircraft for civil use in Yaounde.

"We selected a date, I have already informed government for this purpose, we will end by April 22 with experts from Icao, experts from the regional office in Dakar, experts of the Chinese aviation authority and those of the Cameroonian aviation authority, after which we will agree on the process. At that time, Camair-co will exploit the MA60 for civil use as soon as the OK to Icao has been obtained."

The Chinese MA60 aircrafts were built by the Chinese AVIC International Holding Group financing a loan of about 34.5 billion CFA francs obtained in November 2013 by the Cameroonian government with Eximbank of China via the Ambassador China to Cameroon, Wo Ruidi.

To date, embezzlement suspicions remain with high positioned civil servants at the Ministry of Defence suspected of embezzling estimated at several billion FCFA.

Remember, the two Chinese MA60 aircraft were intended to strengthen the hardware pool of Camair -Co , which until today, idling or turns in agony with a large workforce jetting thousand individuals with only four aircraft in its fleet and only one in operation.