Monday, July 15, 2013

► CAMEROON: Turkish Airlines hurting Camair-Co on Europe-bound traffic - Perchat.

Camair-Co
Camair-Co (QC) says Turkish Airlines' (TK) recent entry into the Cameroonian market is having a serious effect on the carrier's international traffic with almost 50% of the Paris-bound market having been lost to the Turks, Camair Commercial Director, Christian Perchat, has disclosed.

Camair Co's business class cabin
Camair Co's business class cabin (Camair)
Speaking at a news conference in Douala last week, Mr Perchat said that despite Turkish Airlines only launching services to Libreville, Gabon via Douala in January, Camair-Co had begun to feel the pinch of Turkish Airlines' aggressive offers and superior on-board product, which, among other consequences, had necessitated the replacement of its ageing leased 767-300ER with a leased 777, likely due in 2015.
One thing that makes it even tougher, is competition. In this regard, Christian Perchaut said that "we have, in particular, the Turkish company that took over 50% of the market in a few months, between Cameroon and Europe."
Source [camair.be]

Mr Perchat added that even with a 3 hour stopover in Istanbul needed for some connections to Europe, Turkish Airlines' flights, by virtue of their overall reliability, had proven more attractive than Camair-Co's direct flights to Paris, which he said, had suffered "from various delays" during the month of June.