How to obtain an Air Operator’s Licence in Cameroon

 

To operate as an air transporter in Cameroon, an enterprise must obtain an Air Operator’s License and an Air Operator’s Certificate from the CCAA.

 An Air Operator’s License is a document granted to an enterprise by the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA), authorizing it to carry out, against payment of a fee, air transportation of passengers, mail and/or fright as indicated on the licence.
The said document attests that an enterprise has satisfied the legal, financial, economic and moral conditions required by the regulations in force. 
To obtain an Air Operator’s Licence, an enterprise has to address a request to the attention of the Director General of the CCAA specifying the kind of air transport activity (regular/Scheduled, non regular/chattered, or Cargo flights) it intends to operate.
Apart from the above request, the enterprise will have to submit the following information and documents which will permit the CCAA to evaluate the viability and the profitability of the project:

- Name and address of the head office of the enterprise;
- A duly registered statute of the enterprise;
- Organograms precising the names and qualifications of the managers responsible for operations, maintenance, training, operations on the ground and flight safety;
- List of aircraft to be operated and volume of activity envisaged;
- Description of planned operation including zones, routes, airport of destination and alternative airports and  the main base of operation;
- Projections on traffic and revenue for the first three years;
- Economic study of routes taking into consideration the cost of operation of the aircraft type to be used;
- A marketing strategy that the enterprise intents to adopt;
- Provisional operations accounts and balance sheets of the enterprise for the first three years;
- Disposition taken with regards to offices, acquisition or lease of aircraft, its maintenance and insurance policy;
- Provisional expenses on fuel, tariffs, mass salaries, aircraft lease, maintenance, aeronautical charges, tax, insurance and training;
- Date of commencement of operations and details of the take off cost including the source of financing;
- Financial guarantee to cover the cost of operations for the first six months of activities.

Upon reception of the preliminary request, the Director General forwards it to the Air Transport Division of the CCAA where the Service for Authorisations carries out an analysis on the legal, economic and financial aspect of the project in order to conclude on its viability and profitability.
If the analysis shows that the request is receivable, a certification commission made up of personnel from the following departments directly concern with the certification of an airline is set up, Air Transport and Regulation, Air Security and Flight Safety.

The CCAA then invites the prospective operator and its designated persons for a presentation of the project to the CCAA who in turn enlightens the applicant on the applicable regulations and the activities involved in certification process.

If the commission is convinced based on the documents submitted and the presentation given that the project is viable, a recommendation is made to the Director General for the statute of the enterprise to be forwarded to the General Delegation for National Security for administrative investigation on the share holders in order to establish the moral guarantee.

If the outcome of the above mentioned investigation is favourable, a report proposing the issuance of an Air Operator’s Licence is submitted for the appreciation of the General Manager.

It is important to note that this document alone does not give an enterprise an air carrier’s title in Cameroon.

After obtaining a license, the enterprise will have to obtain an Air Operator’s Certificate from the CCAA before it can operate as an air carrier in Cameroon.

(See Decree ? 2003/2031/PM of 04 September 2003 Relative to the exercise of air transport profession in Cameroon, its subsequent modification of 2012 and Instruction ?000355/CCAA/DG/DSA of 09 August 2009 relative to the acquisition of air transporter certificate in Cameroon.)


A joint regulatory framework

The aeronautical legislation in Cameroon is based on both an international and an internal regulatory framework.

Since its independence on January 01st 1960, Cameroon has signed numerous international conventions in the civil aviation sector. Similarly, the country has initiated, at a purely national level, the establishment of a regulatory framework.

The analysis of this international regulatory framework makes it possible to note that, on the basis of civil aviation in the world in general and Cameroon in particular, there is the Chicago Convention of 7 December 1944. It serves as a constitution for the ICAO. Cameroon ratified the latter on January 15, 1960.

In addition to this basic convention, there are two legal instruments at the regional and sub-regional level that also contribute to the regulation of the civil aviation sector in Cameroon: the Yamoussoukro Declaration and the 1999 CEMAC Agreement.

The Yamoussoukro Decision of 1999, of which Cameroon is a signatory, concerns the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration on liberalisation of access to the air transport market in Africa. The main objectives of this Decision are the promotion and development of air services through the progressive and gradual liberalisation of scheduled and non-scheduled intra-African air transport services. It regulates areas such as: the granting of traffic rights, tariffs, frequencies and capacities, designations and authorisations, competition rules and dispute settlement.

The CEMAC agreement, signed on 18 August 1999 in Bangui by the countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, has a well-defined scope, namely: to allow better access to the community, to promote economic relations and trade between the Member States of the Community, to prevent measures liable to prejudice in the development of air transport between States; To encourage the implementation of preventive measures in the field of safety over flight and to promote technical and commercial cooperation between airline companies.

The modern air of aviation

In terms of the internal regulations governing civil aviation in Cameroon, several texts coexist. The main ones are Law No. 63 / LF / 35 of 05 November 1963 on the Civil Aviation Code and the Law of 24 December 1998 on the Civil Aviation Regime.

The Law of November 5, 1963 is a standardization of the various disparate aeronautical laws which were in force in western Cameroon, as well as in eastern Cameroon. It was repealed by the Law of 24 December 1998. To be more exact, it should be repealed in its provisions contrary to those of 1998. That is to say whether there are still some survivals of this 1963 Law which continues to apply whenever there is a silence on the issue of the 1998 Act. The 1998 Act marks the beginning of the modern era of civil aviation in Cameroon. It is intended to govern all activities directly or indirectly related to air navigation. Thus, it takes into account aircraft, airfields, air transport and aircrew.

The aim of this revolutionary Law is to make Cameroonian air transport more competitive in an international environment increasingly marked by the liberal economy and the fight against threats such as terrorism, to which this activity is exposed. The 1998 reform therefore fundamentally changed Cameroon civil aviation to modernize it through the progressive liberalization of air services, the introduction of adequate regulation and increased security of air transport.

ETOGO OHANDZA Joël

Chef du Service de la Réglementation CCAA

 

AERONAUTICAL CHARGES IN CAMEROON

The various user charges levied for the use of airport and air navigation services in Cameroon are set by the government and published by decree. In this regards the Decree №2000/006/PM of 06 January 2000 institutes the various aeronautical charges applied at the airports in Cameroon. These aeronautical charges levied to commercial aviation using Cameroon airport facilities and air navigation services include:

o    Landing fees;

o    Lighting fees;

o    Civil aviation security charges;

o    Airport infrastructural development charges;

o    Passenger service charge;

o    Aircraft parking fees;

o    Aircraft hangar fees;

o    Air cargo fees;

o    Use of air bridges fees;

o    Fuel charges;

o    En route charges; and,

o    Prolongation of airport opening charge.

The Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA) regulates and supervises the said charges.