At a ceremony held today in the Republic of Congo's capital, Brazzaville, Congolese Minister of State for Transport, Civil Aviation and Shipping, Rodolphe Adada, officially handed over the keys of the headquarters of Air CEMAC, the planned regionally backed airline, to chairman of the board of Air CEMAC's directors, Etienne Robin Mintsa Mi Owono.  |
| Air CEMAC's new HQ (Congo-Site) |
The opening of the new head office is surprising given the airline has yet to acquire any aircraft and operate any flights, let alone generate any revenue, despite being in existence for 13 years.
However, according to Mr Adada, the acquisition of aircraft is a non-issue saying that it hardly
constitutes an obstacle to the development of the company.
"I do not think this is a very important issue. If there is agreement, there are many aircraft in the world, as well as those available for purchase at the factory. I do not think it is so serious an issue as to derail the whole initiative," he said.
Source [Congo Government]
Adada did express hope that Air CEMAC would materialize during the year.
Air CEMAC is one of the regional integration tools formulated by the six member states of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), namely the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon and Chad, to facilitate greater inter-bloc trade.
The carrier is due to begin operations in either November/December of this year.
