Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation
Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation, marketed as flyCAA, is a regional airline from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, based at N'djili Airport in Kinshasa. It offers an extensive network of domestic scheduled passenger flights, as well as cargo flights.
Due to safety and security concerns, CAA has been included in the list of air carriers banned in the European Union, along with many other airlines from the Congo.
History
Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation was founded in February 1991 by David and Daniel Blattner as an air taxi company, initially operating a single Grumman Gulfstream I. More Gulfstreams were added to the fleet, as well as Convair 580, Antonov An-26 and Ilyushin Il-18 aircraft as the company moved from air taxi to passenger and cargo services. In 2005 two ex-Spirit Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-81 aircraft were acquired, followed by two McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft in 2008. In 2009 a Fokker 50 was acquired and eventually a further four Fokker 50s joined the fleet. The McDonnell Douglas aircraft were eventually disposed of and replaced with Airbus A320 aircraft.In 2012 CAA formed a commercial and strategic alliance with rival FlyCongo which led to consolidation into a single brand, flyCAA, in October 2012. The aircraft inherited from FlyCongo, three McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and a Boeing 767-200, were phased out.
In January 2016, the airline terminated their only international route to Johannesburg after failing to receive renewed traffic rights.
Destinations
According to the August 2013 timetable, CAA operates scheduled flights to the following destinations:| City | State | Airport |
| Beni | DR Congo | Beni Airport |
| Boende | DR Congo | Boende Airport |
| Bukavu | DR Congo | Kavumu Airport |
| Bumba | DR Congo | Bumba Airport |
| Bunia | DR Congo | Bunia Airport |
| Gemena | DR Congo | Gemena Airport |
| Goma | DR Congo | Goma International Airport |
| Isiro | DR Congo | Matari Airport |
| Kalemie | DR Congo | Kalemie Airport |
| Kananga | DR Congo | Kananga Airport |
| Kindu | DR Congo | Kindu Airport |
| Kinshasa | DR Congo | N'djili Airport ' |
| Kisangani | DR Congo | Bangoka International Airport |
| Kongolo | DR Congo | Kongolo Airport |
| Lisala | DR Congo | Lisala Airport |
| Lodja | DR Congo | Lodja Airport |
| Lubumbashi | DR Congo | Lubumbashi International Airport ' |
| Mbandaka | DR Congo | Mbandaka Airport |
| Mbuji-Mayi | DR Congo | Mbuji Mayi Airport |
| Tshikapa | DR Congo | Tshikapa Airport |
Fleet
Current fleet
The FlyCAA fleet consists of the following aircraft :Former fleet
Over the years, the following aircraft types were operated:| Aircraft | Introduced | Retired |
| Airbus A320-200 | ||
| 1 Airbus A321-200 | ||
| Antonov An-26 | ||
| Antonov An-32 | ||
| Boeing 727 | ||
| Convair CV-580 | ||
| Fokker 50 | ||
| Fokker 100 | ||
| Ilyushin Il-18 | ||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | ||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 |
A Douglas DC-8 had been purchased by CAA and painted in its colors but was never delivered and eventually scrapped at Johannesburg International Airport.
Accidents and incidents
The only fatal accident involving an aircraft of Compagnie d'Aviation Africaine occurred on 4 March 2013, when a Fokker 50 crashed near Goma International Airport. Of the nine people who had been on the flight from Lodja, six were killed. There were however a number of non-fatal incidents which resulted in CAA aircraft being damaged beyond repair:- On 1 April 1997, a Convair CV-580 was destroyed at Tshikapa Airport when it overshot the runway and hit an embankment following a failed take-off abortion. There were fourteen occupants on board the scheduled flight to Mbuji-Mayi.
- On 18 November 1999, another CV-580 had to be written off following an off-airport emergency landing near Tshikapa due to an engine failure that had been encountered shortly into the flight to Kananga.
- On 19 November 2009, Flight 3711 from Kinshasa overran the runway upon landing at Goma Airport. Of the 117 occupants on board the aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 registered 9Q-CAB, around 20 were injured.
- On 2 January 2010, a cargo-configured Boeing 727 veered off the runway during an emergency landing attempt in heavy rain at N'djili Airport. Previously, the pilots had reported a loss of hydraulic pressure.