Cameroonian flag-carrier, Camair-Co, is hoping to acquire more turboprops for its regional expansion as it penned down 130 workers it expects to dismiss from its employ as part of its restructuring plan.
A letter by Director-General Louis Georges Njipendi Kuotu to staff representatives on December 18, cited economic reasons for the redundancies. The retrenchments formed part of the airline’s restructuring plan, which called for the rationalisation of the workforce and the reduction of the wage bill.
Other restructuring measures include the ongoing rehabilitation and strengthening of its fleet; and the resumption of operations on October 18, 2020, with a single wet-leased B737-300 for a period of three months following eight months of suspended services because of COVID-19 restrictions. B737-300 UR-CQW, wet-leased from Jonika Airlines has been plying domestic routes between Douala, Garoua, Yaoundé Nsimalen, and Maroua. It was to be returned to its Ukrainian owner at the end of December.
Director-General Louis Georges Njipendi Kuotu told Newsaero that one of the carrier’s two MA-60s – TJ-QDA (msn 903) – had re-entered service on domestic routes on December 6 after having received its airworthiness recertification from the Cameroonian civil aviation authority on December 2. The aircraft had been grounded for several months as it had required spare parts from China.
This enabled the re-opening on December 6, 2020, of flights to N’Gaoundéré, the regional capital of Adamaoua, with 3x weekly flights from Yaoundé Nsimalen and Douala; and 2x weekly services from Garoua and Maroua, according to the airline’s social media posts. With this, the state-owned carrier reinstated flights to all three capitals of northern Cameroon, reconnecting the northern and southern parts of the country.