Camair-Co:Le Dja expected back May 5

The aircraft suffered corrosion and Boeing is due to supply the parts.

Report of the December 2015 and February 2016 audits by Boeing Consulting, which is due to be forwarded to the government before mid of May 2016, is confidential, according to Camair-Co staff. It was, however, revealed that the auditors proposed the reinforcement of the Camair-Co operational capacity with 14 more new aircrafts with proposed destinations for maximum profitability, as well as the rehabilitation of the former Camair Maintenance Centre, so that aircrafts maintenance will be done in the country.

Le Dja which left the country for a classic overhaul in Ethiopia in December 19, 2015, was expected in the country in February 2016. The aircraft, which had not suffered glitch but was on a routine checkup, was found to have suffered some corrosion.

“The parts concerned could not be found in the market because Boeing has ceased producing 777 300 plane and is now producing 787, officials said. “Boeing was then contacted to produce the parts. So by February, Boeing said it will take two months for the parts to be ready. It is for this reason that Le Dja could not come back last February. It will be back May 5 or latest May 15, 2016,” one of the communication staff revealed.

Administrative Measures

As a result, the General Manager of Camair-Co, Jean Paul Nana Sandjo, and Cameroon’s Ambassador in Addis Ababa, Njikam Theodore, met with the Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebre-Mariam, on April 12 within their traditional partnership to ensure that the plane is back and resumes operations by May 5, 2016. Contrary to certain media reports, Le Dja has not been impounded. Company staff holds that Camair-Co has over FCFA 250 million to pay to the Ethiopian Airlines following previous maintenances.

According to arrangements, the money is being paid and this has never been an issue between the two airline companies. Ethiopian Airline, they said, is a traditional partner of Camair-Co; currently five technicians of the Ethiopian Airlines are working for Camair-Co in Douala for over one year today.

The New Aircraft

The two new MA60 aircraft which are a product of the China Aviation Industry Corporation, AVIC, assembled by Airbus A320 in Tianjin in China with parts from Europe and America. Produced in 2013, each of the planes has a capacity of 48 passengers. The 12 Cameroonian pilots, 16 mechanics, 6 technical agents and 16 hostesses, who completed refresher courses in China on how to manage the two new MA60 aircraft, began work in February, one month after the aircraft went into operation. Twenty-eight of them are Camair-Co workers.