Cameroon's national carrier(version 3) Cameroon Airlines Corporation, Camair-Co, is just 10 months old and the carrier has already built up a West African route network, particularly in the Francophone countries of West Africa and as expected, flights to Paris have also been launched.
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| Cameroon's National Airline Camair-Co |
Camair-Co has already managed to cover a wide swath of Central Africa, from Dakar to inland N'djamena and Bangui. Lagos is virtually the only Anglophone city served. Nearby Libreville and Malabo are also linked to Yaounde and Douala; a multi-day shuttle service runs between these two principal cities. There are also a handful of domestic routes. A wide body service to Paris-CDG has also commenced.
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| A colourful Camair-Co banner asking Cameroonians to fly national airline |
The airline was revived with help of Lufthansa Consulting after a presidential decree by the country's long serving leader Paul Biya. Senegal too relaunched its national airline last year after a rallying effort by the nation's leaders. Lome based ASKY Airlines, a division of Ethiopian Airlines, has already established itself as a major West African carrier, serving various Anglophone and Francophone cities.
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| Camair-Co Cabin Crew and CEO Alex van Elk |
Nigeria is currently grappling with the question on the launch of a new national airline. Many African flag carriers went under in the 1990s and West and Central Africa were particularly hard hit; perhaps Camair Co, ASKY Airlines and Senegal Airlines can serve as case studies for African countries planning to relaunch long defunct carriers. Maybe West Africa will no longer be the graveyard of airlines :)
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