CemAir (Pty) is an airline from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

servicing tourist destinations and business towns, as well as leasing aircraft to other airlines across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The airline's head office and engineering and maintenance facility are located in Hangar 6

OR Tambo International Airport O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport serving the twin cities of Johannesburg and the main capital of South Africa, Pretoria. It is situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

History

The company was formed in 2005 with the purpose of operating turboprop commuter aircraft, with the initial fleet consisting of 1

Cessna Grand Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...

aircraft and 3

Beechcraft 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...

C aircraft. In January 2018, the

South African Civil Aviation Authority The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA or CAA) is the civil aviation authority of South Africa, overseeing civil aviation and governing investigations of aviation accidents and incidents. It is headquartered in Centurion, near Preto ...

withdrew the

Certificate of Airworthiness A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spray ...

for 12 of the airline's aircraft due to allegedly unqualified personnel certifying the aircraft as airworthy. It was subsequently forced by the authorities to suspend operations in late 2018. 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." In January 2021, CemAir signed an interline agreement with

Ethiopian Airlines Ethiopian Airlines (), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to intern ...

Destinations

Charter operations

Based at

, a large portion of the fleet is deployed outside of

. The main foreign deployments are to

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

in West Africa, Gaborone, Botswana, and

Juba, South Sudan Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a population of 525,953 in 20 ...

Scheduled destinations

Cemair operates to the following destinations as per the FlyCemair website.

Domestic

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

Bloemfontein Airport Bram Fischer International Airport () is a primary airport located in Bloemfontein, the capital city of the Free State province of South Africa. The runways are shared with AFB Bloemspruit. History The airport was opened in November 1961 an ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Cape Town International Airport Cape Town International Airport is the primary international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the List of South African airports by passenger movements, second-busiest airport in South Africa and List of busiest airports in Afric ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

East London Airport King Phalo Airport (; formerly East London Airport () until 23 February 2021) is an airport serving East London, a city in the Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa. The airport handles between 20 and 30 flights daily, w ...

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

George Airport George Airport () is an airport located in George, Western Cape, South Africa. It was formerly known as P. W. Botha Airport, named after the state president who lived in this part of the country. This airport was originally built in 1977 as ...

Hoedspruit Hoedspruit (Afrikaans for ''Hat Creek'') is a town situated at the foot of the Klein Drakensberg (Afrikaans for "Small Dragon Mountains" range), in the Limpopo province of South Africa, on the railway line from Tzaneen to Kaapmuiden. History ...

Hoedspruit Airport Air Force Base Hoedspruit is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is located adjacent to the Kruger National Park. In the late 1990s an unused portion of the base was converted into a civilian airport known as Eastgate Airport. It was ...

O.R. Tambo International Airport O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport serving the twin cities of Johannesburg and the main capital of South Africa, Pretoria. It is situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and ...

hub *

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Margate Airport Margate Airport is an airport in Margate, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa . The airport serves as a lower passenger volume alternative to King Shaka International Airport in Durban. It only has one schedule flight service which is to O. R. Tambo Int ...

Plettenberg Bay Plettenberg Bay, nicknamed Plett, is the primary town of the Bitou Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. According to the census of 2001, the town had a population of 29,149. It was originally named Bahia Formosa ("Be ...

Plettenberg Bay Airport Plettenberg Bay AerodromeBloemfontein Airport
- official site is a small

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

Kimberley Airport Kimberley Airport based in the Northern Cape is an airport that serves Kimberley, the capital city of the province and its surrounding areas. It was established in 1912. The airport is approximately 6.5 kilometers (12 minutes) away from the cen ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

King Shaka International Airport King Shaka International Airport , abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport serving Durban, South Africa. It is located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately north of the city centre of Durban. The airport opened its doors ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

Port Elizabeth Airport Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport is an airport serving Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), a city in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. It was formerly known as H. F. Verwoerd Airport and Port Elizabeth International Airport. The ai ...

International

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Maputo International Airport Maputo International Airport , also known as Mavalane International Airport, formerly Lourenço Marques Airport (IATA: LUM), is an airport located northwest of the center of Maputo, the largest city and capital of Mozambique. It is the largest ...

Kasane Kasane is a town in Botswana, close to Africa's 'Four Corners', where the borders of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe almost meet. The town is at the far northeastern corner of Botswana where it serves as the administrative center of the Ch ...

, Botswana -

Kasane Airport Kasane International Airport is an airport serving Kasane, a town in the Chobe District of Botswana. The airport is located along the A33 road, south of the town and south of the border with Namibia. Air Botswana provides scheduled service b ...

Maun, Botswana Maun is the second-largest village in Botswana. As of 2022, it had a population of 85,293. Maun is the "tourism capital" of Botswana and the administrative centre of North-West District (Botswana), Ngamiland district. Francistown and Maun are linke ...

Maun Airport Maun Airport is an international airport serving the town of Maun in the North-West District of Botswana. It is on the north side of the town and is accessible by shuttle bus or taxi. Maun Airport serves as the main gateway to the Okavango ...

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border betwe ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Victoria Falls Airport Victoria Falls Airport is an international airport serving the Victoria Falls tourism industry, and is south of the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Overview In April 2013, Exim Bank of China provided a $150 million loan to build the airpo ...

Fleet

, the CemAir fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

CemAir suffered two hull losses in 2008 with aircraft leased out to 3rd parties, one in

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

and the other in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. *On 2 May 2008, a CemAir-owned

- registered in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and operated by Kenyan-based Flex Air Cargo - was flying from

Wau Wau may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Papua New Guinea * Wau, Papua New Guinea * Wau Airport (Papua New Guinea) * Wau Rural LLG, (local level government) South Sudan * Wau State, South Sudan * Wau, South Sudan, city * Wau railway s ...

when it crashed near

Rumbek Rumbek () is the capital of Lakes State in the Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. Location Rumbek is approximately by road northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Its coordinates are and its elevation is abov ...

, killing all nineteen passengers and two crew. Among the passengers were two senior officials of the

Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...

and their wives. *On 1 September 2008, an Air Serv-leased nineteen passenger

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...

crashed in the

, about 15 km northwest of

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu P ...

carrying two crew and fifteen passengers. The aircraft was

wet lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, as well as to provide ...

d at the time and flown by crew from Cemair, which was then based at

Lanseria International Airport Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757-300 an ...

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. The flight was arriving at Bukavu following technical service at

N'Dolo Airport N'Dolo Airport , also known as Ndolo Airport, is a secondary airport in the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the commune of Barumbu near the city center. The ''Aviation militaire de la Force Publique'' was establi ...

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

. The aircraft crashed into a mountainous ridge. Passengers included twelve Congolese, one French, one Indian, and one Canadian. All 17 occupants were killed.

References

External links

Official website
{{Witwatersrand companies Airlines of South Africa Airlines established in 2005 Companies based in Johannesburg