Summary
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]
| |||||||
| Founded | 2005 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | OR Tambo International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Skyrewards | ||||||
| Fleet size | 26 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Kempton Park, South Africa | ||||||
| Key people | Miles van der Molen (CEO)[1] | ||||||
| Website | cemair | ||||||
History edit
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.[4] It was subsequently forced by the authorities to suspend operations in late 2018.[5] 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."[6][5][7][8]
In January 2021, CemAir signed an interline agreement with Ethiopian Airlines.[9]
Destinations edit
Charter operations edit
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 edit
Cemair operates to the following destinations as per the FlyCemair website.[10]
Domestic edit
- Bloemfontein - Bloemfontein Airport
- Cape Town - Cape Town International Airport
- East London - East London Airport
- George - George Airport
- Hoedspruit - Hoedspruit Airport
- Johannesburg - O.R. Tambo International Airport hub
- Margate - Margate Airport
- Plettenberg Bay - Plettenberg Bay Airport
- Kimberley - Kimberley Airport
- Durban - King Shaka International Airport
- Port Elizabeth - Port Elizabeth Airport
International edit
Fleet edit
As of April 2023[update], the CemAir fleet consists of the following aircraft:[13][failed verification] [14]
| 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 edit
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.
- On 2 May 2008, a CemAir-owned Beechcraft 1900 - registered in Kenya and operated by Kenyan-based Flex Air Cargo - was flying from Wau to Juba, South Sudan when it crashed near Rumbek, killing all nineteen passengers and two crew. Among the passengers were two senior officials of the Sudan People's Liberation Army and their wives.[15]
- On 1 September 2008, an Air Serv-leased nineteen passenger Beechcraft 1900C crashed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about 15 km northwest of Bukavu[16][17] carrying two crew and fifteen passengers.[18][19][20][21] The aircraft was wet leased at the time and flown by crew from Cemair, which was then based at Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight was arriving at Bukavu following technical service at N'Dolo Airport, Kinshasa.[22] The aircraft crashed into a mountainous ridge.[23] Passengers included twelve Congolese, one French, one Indian, and one Canadian.[24] All 17 occupants were killed.[25]
References edit
- ^ https://za.linkedin.com/in/miles-van-der-molen-b6076a38?trk=pub-pbmap[permanent dead link]
- ^ "CemAir - Specialised Aircraft Leasing Company - About Us". Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ Planespotters (28 February 2020). "Cemair Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ Kruger, Andreas (26 October 2019). "CemAir Could Relaunch South African Services After 9 Month Pause". Simple Flying. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ a b "CemAir grounded over safety concerns". Independent Online.
- ^ "Judgement" (PDF).
- ^ "CemAir flights still grounded after failed court bid". Fin24.
- ^ Mkentane, Luyolo (13 May 2019). "CAA's 'irrational' decision to ground CemAir is overturned". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ "Ethiopian Airlines – oft cited as a possible SAA saviour – just did a local deal".
- ^ FlyCemair website
- ^ "CemAir sees gold in Maun". 16 February 2023.
- ^ Fraser, Luke (3 July 2023). "Two new international flights launching in South Africa". Businesstech.co.za. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ cemair.co.za - Fleet retrieved 8 April 2023
- ^ "CemAir Fleet Details and History". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "South Sudan declares three-day mourning for crash victims" Sudan Tribune 3 May 2008
- ^ "'No survivors' in DR Congo crash" BBC News 2 September 2008
- ^ Joe Bavier "Aid plane crashes in Congo, no sign of survivors" Reuters 2 September 2008
- ^ Air Serv press release Archived 2008-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Discussion about airplane crashed in Congo". 2 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ "Aid plane with 17 on board crashes in eastern DR Congo" United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2 September 2008
- ^ "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
- ^ "Crash d’avion près de Bukavu, 17 morts" (in French) Radio Okapi, 2 September 2008
- ^ "SA pilot killed in DRC crash" Archived 2008-09-08 at the Wayback Machine News24 2 September 2008
- ^ "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
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900C-1 ZS-OLD Bukavu-Kavumu Airport (BKY)".
External links edit
Media related to CemAir at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
