Why the Chinese planes do not take off

34.5 billion FCFA, the amount that the Cameroonian government paid for the purchase of two MA60 aircrafts. After long years of waiting and a controversy related to the cost of these planes, the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Transport, Mefire Oumarou proceeded on 1 April 2015 upon receipt of these aircraft in Douala.

Only six months later, these planes are still stationed at the Douala International Airport. The reason Repères newspaper in its edition of Wednesday, October 21, 2015 states that "it must first be certified by the aviation authority of Cameroon".

A source in Camair-Co told the newspaper that "the process has begun. But we do not understand why this is taking so long." According to the newspaper, the delay on certification could be justified by concerns of the aviation authority as regards the reliability of the Chinese aircraft.

The newspaper quoted an official of the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA), who stated in June in the daily La Nouvelle Expression that "when an airline passes control of an aircraft from an aircraft manufacturer, it certifies all the stages of its manufacture ranging from the technical section to the interior trim, through painting. (...) And the same certification process runs at the service center that will look after the management of failures of the devices; but in the case of Chinese aircraft, none of this has been respected."

However, another source of the newspaper points a finger at the national airline. According to this source, "there is an internal malfunction in Camair-co. An official would have received documentation that Cameroon had asked the Chinese to initiate the certification process. "The Chinese have sent such documentation in Mandarin and English. But transmission to the CCAA took time," says the source who requested anonymity.

Nevertheless, it will take time to see the two aircraft fly under the Cameroonian sky. After certification, Camair-co will secure registration for its planes in order to make it a civilian and not military aircraft, as is still the case, reveals Repères.