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CemAir

CemAir
IATA ICAO Call sign
5Z KEM CEMAIR
Founded2005
HubsOR Tambo International Airport
Frequent-flyer programSkyrewards
Fleet size26
HeadquartersKempton Park, South Africa
Key peopleMiles van der Molen (CEO)[1]
Websitecemair.co.za

CemAir (Pty) South Africa, servicing popular tourist destinations and important business towns, as well as leasing aircraft to other airlines across Africa. The airline's head office and engineering and maintenance facility are located in Hangar 6 OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.[2]

History

The company was formed in 2005[3] with the purpose of operating turboprop commuter aircraft, with the initial fleet consisting of 1 Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft and 3 Beechcraft 1900C aircraft.[citation needed]

In January 2018, the South African Civil Aviation Authority withdrew the Certificate of Airworthiness for 12 of the airline's aircraft due to allegedly unqualified personnel certifying the aircraft as airworthy. It was subsequently forced by the authorities to suspend operations in late 2018.[4] The airline successfully launched a High Court challenge, and the grounding was overturned. The CAA then again grounded the Airline in January 2019 and CemAir challenged the decision before the Civil Aviation Appeal Committee. On 29 April 2019, the CAAC issued a judgement in favour of the airline, calling the CAA's actions "irrational, arbitrary, unreasonable and procedurally unfair" and "factually wrong."[5][4][6][7]

In January 2021, CemAir signed an interline agreement with Ethiopian Airlines.[8]

Destinations

Charter operations

Based at OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa, a large portion of the fleet is deployed outside of South Africa. The main foreign deployments are to Mali in West Africa, Gaborone, Botswana, and Juba, South Sudan.[citation needed]

Scheduled destinations

Cemair operates to the following destinations as per the FlyCemair website.[9]

Domestic

International

Fleet

CemAir Beechcraft 1900D
CemAir Bombardier CRJ200

As of April 2023, the CemAir fleet consists of the following aircraft:[12][failed verification] [13]

Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
Beechcraft 1900D 4 19
Bombardier CRJ100 4 50
Bombardier CRJ200 4 50
Bombardier CRJ700 2 70
Bombardier CRJ900 5 90
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 1 37
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q300 2 50
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 4 78
Total 26

Accidents and incidents

CemAir suffered two hull losses in 2008 with aircraft leased out to 3rd parties, one in South Sudan and the other in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

References

  1. ^ https://za.linkedin.com/in/miles-van-der-molen-b6076a38?trk=pub-pbmap[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "CemAir - Specialised Aircraft Leasing Company - About Us". Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  3. ^ Planespotters (28 February 2020). "Cemair Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b "CemAir grounded over safety concerns". Independent Online.
  5. ^ "Judgement" (PDF).
  6. ^ "CemAir flights still grounded after failed court bid". Fin24.
  7. ^ Mkentane, Luyolo (13 May 2019). "CAA's 'irrational' decision to ground CemAir is overturned". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Ethiopian Airlines – oft cited as a possible SAA saviour – just did a local deal".
  9. ^ FlyCemair website
  10. ^ "CemAir sees gold in Maun". 16 February 2023.
  11. ^ Fraser, Luke (3 July 2023). "Two new international flights launching in South Africa". Businesstech.co.za. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  12. ^ cemair.co.za - Fleet retrieved 8 April 2023
  13. ^ "CemAir Fleet Details and History". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  14. ^ "South Sudan declares three-day mourning for crash victims" Sudan Tribune 3 May 2008
  15. ^ "'No survivors' in DR Congo crash" BBC News 2 September 2008
  16. ^ Joe Bavier "Aid plane crashes in Congo, no sign of survivors" Reuters 2 September 2008
  17. ^ Air Serv press release Archived 2008-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Discussion about airplane crashed in Congo". 2 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  19. ^ "Aid plane with 17 on board crashes in eastern DR Congo" United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2 September 2008
  20. ^ "RDC: Un avion humanitaire de l'ONU avec 17 personnes à bord s'écrase dans l'est" (in French) United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2 September 2008
  21. ^ "Crash d’avion près de Bukavu, 17 morts" (in French) Radio Okapi, 2 September 2008
  22. ^ "SA pilot killed in DRC crash" Archived 2008-09-08 at the Wayback Machine News24 2 September 2008
  23. ^ "Crash au Kivu: les secours n'ont pas encore pu atteindre l'épave, selon l'ONU" (in French) 3 September 2008 Archived September 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900C-1 ZS-OLD Bukavu-Kavumu Airport (BKY)".

Media related to CemAir at Wikimedia Commons