At 2 pm on January
23, 2016, when 'The Mantung' taxied to the runway of the
Yaounde-Nsimalen International Airport, arriving from Douala, a wave of
ecstasy gripped the population that had taken up vantage postions to
watch the event. The excitement increased when the General Manager of
the Cameroon Airline Corproration, Jean Paul Nana Sandjo, guests and
some passengers, alighted from the MA60 aircraft.
Euphoria hit fever
pitch with people jubilating when 30 minutes later, 'The Logone,' with
dignitaries led by the Minister of Transport, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o
and the Chinese Ambassador to Cameroon, Wei Wenhua, drove close to the
tarmac. This was the arrival of the second MA60 plane. The first words
by the Minister to the press described how impeccable the flight from
Douala to Yaounde was. The trip was excellent and the wish of the
Transport Minister is for Cameroonians to travel by the aircraft; first,
to visit Cameroon from North to South, East to West, and secondly, to
visit the subregion.
Edgard Alain Mebe
Ngo'o also told guests that he was a living testimony of the viability
and comfort of the 48-seat MA60 aircraft, be it as former Defence boss
or as Minister of Transport. An MA60 aircraft was handed to the military
in 2012 and it has since been in use without any hitch, he said. "I was
privileged to undertake 31 official missions on board MA60 with a total
of over 160 hours of flight." The aircraft were registered as TJ-QDA
and TJ-QDB in 2015. He said the Head of State, Paul Biya, carefully
named the MA60 aircraft; 'The Mantung' and 'The Logone' to give more
meaning to Rivers Logone and Mantung in the Far North and the North West
Regions respectively.
Xu Bo, Vice President of the Chinese company that manufactured the
planes, AVIC International Holding Corporation, maintained that the
Cameroonian Army has been using MA60 with over 1,500, hours already
covered since going operational. He said six regional airlines operate
44 MA60 aircraft, while 21 foreign operators own 57 of such planes, with
over 345,789 hours of flight. Harping on the security of MA60 aircraft,
Ambassador Wei Wenhua, being one of the first people on board the
plane, said his country was ready to open more navigation routes in
Africa as part of efforts to foster cooperation.