Camair-Co

The Cameroon Airlines Corporation, trading as Camair-Co, is an airline from Cameroon, serving as flag carrier of the country, a role which was previously filled by the now-defunct Cameroon Airlines.^[1] Camair-Co has its headquarters in the Immeuble La Rotonde in Douala,^[2] and operates out of Douala International Airport.^[3] The airline has never made a profit, and is struggling under the weight of its debts; most of its aircraft are currently grounded.^[4][5] The company slogan is French: L'étoile du Cameroun, The Star of Cameroon.

Camair-Co

IATA ICAO Call sign QC CRC CAMAIRCO
Founded	11 September 2006 (2006-09-11)
Commenced operations	28 March 2011 (2011-03-28)
Hubs	Douala International Airport
Focus cities	Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Star Awards
Fleet size	7
Destinations	12
Parent company	Government of Cameroon
Headquarters	Douala, Cameroon
Key people	Ernest Dikoum (General Director)
Website	Camair

History

Inaugural flight on 28 March 2011.

Camair-co was created on 11 September 2006 by decree of Paul Biya, the President of Cameroon, as a company aimed at replacing Cameroon Airlines, the country's national airline at that time. The IATA code QC previously belonged to Air Corridor, which has since ceased operations. Cameroon Airlines was shut down in June 2008,^[6] but it took until 2011 for Camair-Co to launch flight services. The inaugural flight from Douala to Paris via Yaoundé took place on 28 March.^[7] On 30 September 2016 the airline ceased services to Paris as part of a network restructuring exercise.^[8]

Lossmaking since its launch in 2011, the Camair-Co reportedly had debts about 35 billion Central African CFA franc, and the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) had ordered the company to pay its arrears of royalties amounting to 100,390 million FCFA, under suspension of air navigation services.^[4]

Camair-Co was the subject of a recovery plan proposed by the US firm Boeing Consulting in 2016, which included settlement of the outstanding debt, the injection of FCFA 60 billion, resizing of the network and the modernisation of the fleet, but the plan has not been implemented.^[4]

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Camair-Co, with a capital of 100 million CFA francs, was created by Presidential Decree No. 2006/293 of 11 September 2006 with the State of Cameroon as the sole shareholder.^[9]

Business trends

Camair-Co has been loss-making since its creation. Financial and other trends for Camair-Co (for years ending 31 December) are:

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Turnover (XAFbn)	15							28.8
Turnover (US$m)	32.2
Net profit (XAFbn)	−9.0	loss	loss	−17.3	−10.1	loss	loss	loss
Net profit (US$m)	−18.1	loss	loss	loss	loss	loss	loss	loss
Number of employees (at year end)	<400		520
Number of passengers (m)	0.11					0.12	0.24
Passenger load factor (%)	45
Number of aircraft (at year end)	3	3	3			5	5
Notes/sources	[10]		[11]	[12]	[12]	[13]	[13]	[5]

Destinations

The Camair Boeing 767 at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, in 2012

As of December 2024, Camair-Co offers scheduled flights to the following destinations:^[14]

Country	City	ICAO	IATA	Airport
Benin	Cotonou	DBBB	COO	Cadjehoun Airport
Cameroon	Bafoussam	FKKU	BFX	Bafoussam Airport
Cameroon	Douala	FKKD	DLA	Douala International Airport
Cameroon	Garoua	FKKR	GOU	Garoua International Airport
Cameroon	Maroua	FKKL	MVR	Salak Airport
Cameroon	Ngaoundéré	FKKN	NGE	Ngaoundéré Airport
Cameroon	Yaoundé	FKYS	NSI	Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport
Central African Republic	Bangui	FEEF	BGF	Bangui M'Poko International Airport
Chad	N'Djamena	FTTJ	NDJ	N'Djamena International Airport
Gabon	Libreville	FOOL	LBV	Libreville International Airport
Republic of Congo	Brazzaville	FCBB	BZV	Maya–Maya Airport
Republic of Congo	Pointe-Noire	FCPP	PNR	Agostinho-Neto International Airport

Fleet

A Camair-Co Boeing 737-700 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2014.

The Camair-Co fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2019):^[15] As of January 2022, the two B737-700s, registered TJ-QCA and TJ-QCB are parked outside the Ethiopian Airlines maintenance facilities at Bole International Airport, Addis Abbeba, Ethiopia. The B767-300ER is parked at the apron, and is missing the right engine. The airline is also operating at least one Embraer 145, Registered TJ-KMM, which apparently belongs to Cronos Airlines of Equatorial Guinea.

Camair-Co fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers			Notes/sources
			C	Y	Total
Airbus A320-200	2	-	-	180	180	[16]
Boeing 737-700	2	-	12	116	128
Boeing 767-300ER	1	-	30	181	211	[17]
Bombardier Dash 8-Q400	2	-	-	70	70	[18]
Embraer ERJ-175LR	1	-	-	88	88	[19]
Embraer ERJ-190SR	1	-	-	100	100	[20]
Embraer ERJ-195LR	1	-	-	118	118	[21]
Xian MA60-600	2	-	-	50	50
Total	12	0

See also

• Airlines of Africa

References

1. "Cameroon's aviation market experiences strong growth driven by Camair-Co and regional competitors". Centre for Aviation. 23 September 2013.
2. "Contacts." Camair-Co. Retrieved on May 12, 2016. "Immeuble La Rotonde- Boulevard de la liberté BP 4852 Douala-Cameroun "
3. Tumanjong, Emmanuel (28 March 2011). "New Cameroon State Aviation Corp. Targets Chinese Skies". Nasdaq. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
4. "Camair-Co souce la menace d'un arrêt des ses activités" [Camair-Co threatened with a halt to its activities]. Camair.be (in French). 11 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
5. "No more takeoff for Camair Co, all aircrafts [sic] out of order". Business in Cameroon. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
6. "Atterissage définitif de la Camair". Les Afriques. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
7. "Camair.co: Le Cameroun reprend les airs" [Camair.co: Cameroon is back in the air]. CamerPress: Cameroonian Information Agency (in French). 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
8. "Camair-Co". Airliner World (December 2016): 15.
9. "L'Historique de la Compagnie" [History of the company] (in French). Camair-Co. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
10. "New Cameroon national carrier Camair-Co fails to reach first year targets, but continues to grow". CAPA Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
11. "Camair-Co to embark on restructuring program". ch-aviation. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
12. "Cameroon: 18 State-owned enterprises financially at risk, IMF says". Business in Cameroon. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
13. "Cameroon: Camair-Co transported 235,686 passengers in 2017". Business in Cameroon. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
14. CAMTEL. "Cameroon Airlines Corporation: Programme des vols" [Cameroon Airlines Corporation: Flight Schedule]. www.camair-co.cm (in French). Camair-Co. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
15. "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2019): 8.
16. "CAN 2021: Camair-Co renforce sa flotte, un Airbus A-320 est arrivé au Cameroun" [CAN 2021: Camair-Co strengthens its fleet, an Airbus A-320 has arrived in Cameroon]. Actu Cameroun (in French). Retrieved 4 January 2022.
17. "Cameroon Airlines Corporation: Notre flotte" [Cameroon Airlines Corporation: Our fleet] (in French). Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
18. "Camair-Co leases a bombardier Dash8-Q400". Business in Cameroon. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
19. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map". Flightradar. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
20. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map". Flightradar. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
21. "Camair-Co lanches E-Jet operations NS24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 26 March 2024.

External links

• Official website