Following discussions with the competent Congolese authorities including the national minister, Busy Bee Congo (Goma) has been allowed to resume flights less than three weeks after a fatal crash led to its grounding. The resumption of the carrier's activities will ensure the connection between the cities of Goma, Beni, and Butembo in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to Congo's 7SUR7 news portal, the authorisation was given on December 12, after lobbying by national deputy Patrick Munyomo, elected from Goma, and several other elected representatives from North Kivu. Busy Bee also confirmed that flights would resume between North Kivu's three largest towns.
Congo's civil aviation authority (Autorité de l’aviation civile - AAC) decided to suspend "indefinitely" the activities of Busy Bee, following the crash of one of its Do228-200s on November 24, 9S-GNH (msn 8030). The incident claimed the lives of 26 people including 17 passengers, two crew members and seven other victims who were at the scene of the tragedy, according to the official report.
When referring to the ch-aviation fleets module, the airline's remaining fleet consists of one Do228-100 and two Do228-200s. Until its grounding, and according to the flight schedule on its website, Busy Bee was flying from Goma-Butembo-Beni-Goma 3x weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) whereas as on Sundays it operated direct flights to both Butembo and Beni.
