By Emmanuel Tumanjong
YAOUNDE, Cameroon--The Cameroon government has allocated 218
billion Cental African francs ($432.1 million) for the purchase of
two ultramodern Boeing Co. (BA) aircraft for the country's
state-managed Cameroon Airlines Cooperation, or Camair-Co, a top
company official told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.
"Negotiations to obtain the planes have significantly advanced,
and we've been notified that the two Dreamliners should be in
Camair-Co's possession by 2015, said the carrier's commercial
director, Alphonse Bea, who was citing a statement issued Wednesday
by the company.
Camair-Co was born in 2011 from the ashes of the defunct
Cameroon Airlines, or Camair, but the company, which has only three
planes still, is endeavoring to face challenges from foreign
competitors like Air France, Brussels SN, Ethiopian Airlines and
Kenya Airways. It lost XAF9 billion in 2011.
Earlier this year, Cameroon's Minister of Ansport Robert Nkili
signed and agreement with China's Avic International to supply
Camair-Co three aircraft with a capacity of 60 places.
Write to Emmanuel Tumanjong at
resourcesdesklondon@dowjones.com
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