Camair-Co (QC, Douala) is reportedly set to acquire two more DHC-8-Q400s to boost its domestic and regional operations resulting from Cameroon's National Assembly having ratified on June 20 a Bill authorising President Paul Biya to ratify an air transport agreement between Cameroon and Canada, reports economic news daily Investir au Cameroon. ch-aviation could not independently verify plans for Camair-Co to acquire two more Q400s.
The Cameroon Transport Ministry confirmed the adoption of the Bill by the National Assembly on social media.
According to ch-aviation fleets data, Camair-Co currently operates two Dash-8-Q400s leased from Regional One. The rest of the fleet comprises a B737-700, TJ-QCB (msn 33920), due to return from maintenance in Addis Ababa International, Ethiopia, by August/September 2024; another B737-700 operating between Douala and Yaoundé Nsimalen; a B767-300ER stored for years in Addis Ababa; and two MA-60s operating ad-hoc cargo charter flights.
According to regulatory filings, the air transport agreement between Cameroon and Canada was initially signed on June 1, 2022, in Yaoundé after it was initialled on December 17, 2017, during the tenth ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event (ICAN2017) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Masséna Ngalle Bibehe said Camair-Co, as part of its long-term international redeployment plan, would leverage the agreement to strengthen its collaboration with the manufacturer of the Q400. The aircraft is manufactured by De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, which acquired the Dash-8 programme from Bombardier Aerospace in 2019.
As reported by ch-aviation, Camair-Co's initial fleet renewal plan devised with the assistance of Boeing Consulting in 2017, outlined a planned acquisition of 12 passenger aircraft and the replacement of the MA-60s and B737-700s with new generation aircraft. The fleet plan included Dash 8-400s, a B737-400(F) freighter, two B777-200ERs, and several B737-800s. By July 2020, Camair-Co aimed to have two B787s.
