Equatorial Congo Airlines SA, operating as ECAir, is an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

headquartered in

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

; and is the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

of the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

. The airline suspended all operations on 10 October 2016. however it restarted operations in late March 2024.

History

ECAir was created with the support of the Congolese Government to serve as a locomotive for the modernization of the aviation sector in the region. Crews and technical support for ECAir were provided by

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

-based VIP business carrier

PrivatAir Privatair SA was a Swiss airline headquartered in Meyrin, which operated business jets as well as scheduled services on behalf of major airlines. In addition the company operated crew and pilot training facilities. PrivatAir SA was a registered ...

. and thus ECAir avoided being included in the

list of air carriers banned in the European Union The European Union (EU) publishes a list of air carriers that are banned from entering the airspace of any of its member states, usually for failing to meet EU regulatory oversight standards. The first version of the list was published in 200 ...

, which applied to all airlines with maintenance services executed in the Republic of the Congo. Operations commenced on 24 September 2010, the company having taken delivery of its first aircraft, a

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

. It took delivery of a second

in February 2012. On 24 August 2012 ECAir launched its first international route, Brazzaville – Paris-CDG, offering 4-weekly service on board a PrivatAir Boeing 757 aircraft. On 14 November 2014 the Belgian airline Jetairfly sealed a

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 ...

deal to provide up to four aircraft with crew to operate on behalf of ECAir from mid 2015 on. Widebody operations were launched in February 2015 with the wet-lease of a

Boeing 767-300ER The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

from PrivatAir to be used on the Brazzaville to Paris service (4-weekly service). The delivery of a

Boeing 787-8 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, whi ...

was expected in the first half of 2016, with plans to open new routes to China and the United States. The airline suspended all operations on 10 October 2016 until further notice after the responsible air navigation provider ceased all services to EC Air over unpaid debts.ch-aviation.com - ECAIR Congo suspends operations over ASECNA debts
24 October 2016

, which operated several routes on behalf of ECAir, also ended all services for the airline. ECAir was reportedly looking to restart operations in the first quarter of 2019. In late 2020, plans to scrap some of their planes were also revealed. In early 2023, the government and ECAir revealed their plans to restart operations with 3 B737's and in March 2024, they restarted operations with a single B737 that operates between Brazzaville, Pointe Noire and Ollombo-Oyo.

Corporate affairs

Head office

ECAir's corporate headquarters at ECAir House, Maya Maya Airport, Brazzaville.

Ownership and structure

Since its creation, ECAir had been 70% owned by the

Government of the Republic of the Congo Politics of the Republic of the Congo takes place in a framework of a unitary semi-presidential republic, whereby the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government, of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive ...

, 15% by the seaport of Pointe-Noire and 15% by Heli-Avia company. To launch the airline, the Government engaged

Lufthansa Consulting Lufthansa Consulting is an international aviation consultancy for airlines, airports and related industries. The company is an independent subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group and provides services to the air transportation industry. Their offices a ...

, which managed the complete start-up process preparation, and developed a five-year business plan, including future network and fleet structure for the new airline. From the outset, all cockpit crews and some cabin crews and technical support for ECAir were provided by

-based carrier

. After Lufthansa Consulting was phased out, the airline obtained specialised consultancy services mainly via the Swiss company CoeM.

Business trends

The airline commenced operating in September 2011, and it was reported that the carrier's business plan does not expect it to become profitable until its third year of operation, i.e. 2014. No annual reports have been published, and the main sources for business information are press releases and reports. According to Swiss journalist Marc Renfer in an article published on official media, ECAir lost over 450 million Euros between 2011 and 2016.

Destinations

Fleet

Current fleet

As of June 2024, the ECAir fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

As of June 2024, the ECAir used to operate the following aircraft:

References

{{Authority control Defunct airlines of the Republic of the Congo Airlines established in 2011 2011 establishments in the Republic of the Congo Organisations based in Brazzaville Airlines disestablished in 2016 2016 disestablishments in Africa