(Business in Cameroon) - Despite last week’s delivery of two new planes to the Chinese company, Avic International, the fate of Camair Co still hangs in the balance. This was what Camair Co’s Managing Director, Jean Paul Nana Sandjo, revealed.

“Camair-Co was launched in circumstances that created a lot of debt. Today, we are recovering, but we still owe 30 billion FCFA. Conclusion: things are still bad,” he confessed as he went on to reveal Cameroon’s national carrier’s colossal debt after recently celebrating its fourth birthday.

With 700 employees, “we have to reduce our labour force to less than 150. We currently have 250,” stated Camair Co’s Managing Director. Facing this situation, Jean Paul Nana Sandjo maintains that the company has no alternative but to consolidate its fleet which now comprises three aircraft servicing “15 destinations.”

Confronted with financial struggles since it opened, with high charges (for example, a a flat tire has to be sent abroad for repair due to a lack of technical capacity) and low revenue, the national carrier, currently holding third place behind Air France and Brussels Airline, has only survived this far thanks to financial support from the government.