Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation

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Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation
IATA
BU		 ICAO
FPY		 Callsign
AFRICO[1]
Founded 1993
Operating bases N'djili Airport
Focus cities Lubumbashi Int'l Airport
Fleet size 8
Destinations 21
Headquarters Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Website www.caacongo.com
The former CAA logo
An Airbus A320 at Montpellier – Méditerranée Airport, France, being prepared for delivery to CAA (2011).

Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation (literally "African Aviation Company", commonly abbreviated CAA and marketed as flyCAA) is a regional airline from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, based at N'djili Airport in Kinshasa.[2] It offers an extensive network of domestic scheduled passenger flights,[3] and an international service on the Kinshasa-Lubumbashi-Johannesburg route, as well as cargo flights. Due to safety and security concerns, CAA has been included in the List of air carriers banned in the European Union,[2] along with any other airline from the DR Congo.

History

Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation traces its roots to an in-house corporate charter provider of Groupe Agro-Pastoral et Industriel known as GAP Aviation, which was formed in 1991.[4] On 31 March 1993, the current name was established, when the airline licence was issued to the now independent company.[2] The initial fleet consisted of a single Convair CV-580, which was expanded over the following years by the addition of Soviet-built airplanes of the types An-26 and Il-18.[4]

Larger Western-built airliners were added to the fleet from 2005 onwards, including the MD-81 (purchased from Spirit Airlines) and several ageing Airbus A320.[5] In 2010, CAA went into a partnership with Air Kasaï.[6] In October 2012, another cooperation was announced with FlyCongo, including plans to eventually acquire the airline in 2013.[7]

Destinations

A CAA Fokker 50 at Goma International Airport (2010)
A CAA McDonnell Douglas MD-81 approaching N'Djili Airport (2006)
A CAA Boeing 727 freighter aircraft departing Goma International Airport (2006)

According to the August 2013 timetable, CAA operates scheduled flights to the following destinations:[8]

City State Airport
Beni DR Congo Beni Airport
Boende DR Congo Boende Airport
Bukavu DR Congo Kavumu Airport
Bumba DR Congo Bumba Airport
Bunia DR Congo Bunia Airport
Gemena DR Congo Gemena Airport
Goma DR Congo Goma International Airport
Isiro DR Congo Matari Airport
Kalemie DR Congo Kalemie Airport
Kananga DR Congo Kananga Airport
Kindu DR Congo Kindu Airport
Kinshasa DR Congo N'djili Airport (base)
Kisangani DR Congo Bangoka International Airport
Kongolo DR Congo Kongolo Airport
Lisala DR Congo Lisala Airport
Lodja DR Congo Lodja Airport
Lubumbashi DR Congo Lubumbashi International Airport (focus city)[3]
Mbandaka DR Congo Mbandaka Airport
Mbuji-Mayi DR Congo Mbuji Mayi Airport
Tshikapa DR Congo Tshikapa Airport
Johannesburg South Africa OR Tambo International Airport

Fleet

As of August 2013, the CAA fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 21.7 years:[5]

Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders
Airbus A320-200
4
1
Fokker 50
3
—
Fokker 100
1
—
Total 8 1

Fleet development

A BAC One-Eleven at Mbuji Mayi Airport (2008). The depicted aircraft (9Q-CDY) had been wet-leased.[1]

Over the years, the following aircraft types were operated:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired
Airbus A320-200
2010[5]
Antonov An-26[2]
Antonov An-32[2]
Boeing 727[2]
Convair CV-580[2]
1993[4]
Douglas DC-8[2]
Fokker 50
2009[5]
Fokker 100
2011[5]
Ilyushin Il-18[2]
McDonnell Douglas MD-81
2005[5]
McDonnell Douglas MD-82
2008[5]

Accidents and incidents

The only fatal accident involving an aircraft of Compagnie d'Aviation Africaine occurred on 4 March 2013, when a Fokker 50 (registered 9Q-CBD) crashed near Goma International Airport. Of the nine people that had been on the cargo flight from Lodja, six were killed.[9]

There were a number of non-fatal incidents which resulted in CAA aircraft being damaged beyond repair:

  • On 1 April 1997, a Convair CV-580 (registered 9Q-CRU) was destroyed at Tshikapa Airport when it overshot the runway and hit an embankment following a failed take-off abortion. There were fourteen occupants on board the scheduled flight to Mbuji-Mayi.[10]
  • On 18 November 1999, another CV-580 (registered 9Q-CEJ) had to be written off following an off-airport emergency landing near Tshikapa due to an engine failure that had been encountered shortly into the flight to Kananga.[11]
  • On 19 November 2009, Flight 3711 from Kinshasa overran the runway upon landing at Goma Airport. Of the 117 occupants on board the aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 registered 9Q-CAB, around 20 were injured.[12]
  • On 2 January 2010, a cargo-configured Boeing 727 (registered 9Q-CAA) veered off the runway during an emergency landing attempt in heavy rain at N'djili Airport. Previously, the pilots had reported a loss of hydraulic pressure.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Information about Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation at rzjets.net". Retrieved 20 May 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Information about Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation at the Aero Transport Data Bank
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 A visualization of the CAA route network, created using the August 2013 timetable and the Great Circle Mapper
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation: Historique
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 CAA fleet list at planespotters.net
  6. ↑ Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation: Partnerships.
  7. ↑ "Information about Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation". ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 20 May 2013. 
  8. ↑ "Timetable (6 August 2013)". Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation. Retrieved 1 September 2013. 
  9. ↑ 2013 CAA accident at the Aviation Safety Network
  10. ↑ 1997 CAA accident at the Aviation Safety Network
  11. ↑ 1999 CAA accident at the Aviation Safety Network
  12. ↑ 2009 CAA accident at the Aviation Safety Network
  13. ↑ 2010 CAA accident at the Aviation Safety Network

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