Users of the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport can now take off and land 24/24 and 7/7 without any hitch. The December 4 ban by the General Manager of the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority on flights between 10 pm to 7 am was on December 14 lifted.
The ban was orchestrated by a lightning strike which damaged certain technical equipment of the airport forcing authorities to reduce night flights for the security of persons and aircrafts.
According to a circular letter from the General Manager of the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority signed by his deputy and addressed to representatives of air companies using the airport, landing radio electric aid (ILS), destroyed by the lightning, was reinstalled on December 14 and the runway lighting reinforced. "We lift the restriction on flight time and restore the 24/24 functioning of the airport as from today (December 14)," the circular reads.
When Cameroon Tribune visited the airport yesterday December 18 at over midday, normal airport activities were ongoing with people checking in and out unperturbed. The damaged equipment have been installed and the airport was functioning optimally with flights (arrivals and departures) scheduled beyond midnight. All attempts to get further information on the new equipment failed as authorities opted for tied lips.
However, on the airport electronic information board, there was a Camair-Co Yaounde-Paris schedule for 00:35 as well as a Turkish Airlines Yaounde -Douala - Istanbul flight billed for 00:55. In the meantime, arrivals were programmed for Camair-Co from Douala at 23:45 and Turkish Airlines from Istanbul from 23:55. Several flights (departures and arrivals) have also been programmed for this Thursday December 19 right up to 05:25.
