Legal framework of the Cameroonian air transport

The operation of civil aviation obeys to international standards and recommendations commonly agreed upon by States under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and applied uniformly throughout the world.

Cameroon, from its accession to international sovereignty, adhered to the Chicago Convention which established the rules under which international aviation operates and created the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the branch of the United Nations organization responsible for fostering the planning and development of international air transport. Cameroon also ratified the agreement relative to the Transit of International Air Services and other international instruments such as the Geneva Convention on the international recognition of rights in Aircrafts, the Rome Convention , the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Convention (formally, the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air).
At the African level, Cameroon is a member of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) and a signatory to the Yamoussoukro Decision on the liberalization of air service markets in Africa. Cameroon is equally part of the Dakar Convention governing the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA). In this regards, this international body has been entrusted with the management of air navigation services in Cameroon. This management is carried out directly by the Representation of ASECNA in Cameroon.
At the national level, Law No. 2013/010 of 24 July 2013 on civil aviation regime in Cameroon was promulgated to organize the exercise of civil aviation activities in Cameroon, promote free competition and the participation of private initiatives and to ensure the rational and efficient use of aeronautical infrastructure and the airspace.
As per the international instruments cited above and national regulations in force, all aircrafts operated in Cameroon shall be registered with the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority after due inspection and testing by the said aeronautic authority and, a certificate of airworthiness, noise certificate and a certificate of exploitation of radio-electric installation issued before a certificate of registration is delivered. This certificate of registration gives the aircraft Cameroonian nationality. When deregistration is done at any future date, the aircraft loses its Cameroonian nationality.
See also Acquisition of an air transport certificate in Cameroon.

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;

 Organisation chart with 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 shareholders 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.)

AIR TRANSPORT AGREEMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN CAMEROON AND PARTNER STATES.

At the international level, each Contracting State of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) grants to other Contracting States, in respect of scheduled international air services, the following air freedoms;

• The right to fly-over its territory without landing, - 1st Freedom;

• The right to land for non-commercial reasons (technical stops), - 2nd Freedom;

• The right to carry passengers or cargo from one's own country to another, - 3rd Freedom;

• The right to carry passengers or cargo from another country to one's own territory 4th Freedom;

• The right to carry passengers, mail and cargo from one's own country to a second Contracting country and from that country to any other contracting country (and so on), - 5th Freedom.

Since its adhesion to the Convention on international Civil Aviation on the 15th January 1960, and the ratification on 30th March 1960 of the agreement relative to the Transit of International Air Services, Cameroon has undertaken to complete its multifaceted cooperation through the conclusion of bilateral agreements with third countries. These bilateral treaties establish the modalities of regulating the activity of air transport and rule on the aerial relationships between pairs of states.

To date, the portfolio of aviation agreements negotiated by the government of Cameroon contains about sixty two (62) instruments. The movement of people and goods by air between Cameroon and foreign countries is governed by these Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs) which vary in their degree of restrictiveness and intensity. As the custodian of Cameroon’s portfolio of bilateral air services agreements, the CCAA, in the context of air transport liberalization and to conform to the new government policy of competition, engaged in a process of modernization and expansion of these BASAs with trading partner states to encourage the development of new markets, new services and greater competition.

Actually, Cameroon has sixty-two (62) BASAs negotiated with third countries, classified as follows:

40 BASAs with African states

11 BASAs with European states

01 BASAs with a South American state (Brazil)

01 BASA with a North American state (USA)

04 BASAs with Middle East states

05 BASAs with Asian states

See List of Cameroon BASAs with third countries (ACCORDS AERIENS CONCLUS PAR LE CAMEROUN AVEC LES ETATS TIERS)

ACCORDS AERIENS CONCLUS PAR LE CAMEROUN AVEC LES ETATS TIERS

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