CemAir

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CemAir
IATA ICAO Call sign
5ZKEMCEMAIR
Founded2005
Hubs OR Tambo International Airport
Frequent-flyer program Skyrewards
Fleet size26
Headquarters Kempton Park, South Africa
Key peopleMiles van der Molen (CEO) [1]
Website cemair.co.za

CemAir (Pty) is an airline from South Africa servicing tourist destinations and business towns, as well as leasing aircraft to other airlines across Africa. The airline's head office and engineering and maintenance facility are located in Hangar 6 OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. [2]

Contents

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 aircraft and 3 Beechcraft 1900C aircraft.[ citation needed ]

In January 2018, the South African Civil Aviation Authority withdrew the Certificate of Airworthiness 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. [3] 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." [4] [3] [5] [6]

In January 2021, CemAir signed an interline agreement with Ethiopian Airlines. [7]

Destinations

Charter operations

Based at OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa, a large portion of the fleet is deployed outside of South Africa. The main foreign deployments are to Mali in West Africa, Gaborone, Botswana, and Juba, South Sudan.[ citation needed ]

Scheduled destinations

Cemair operates to the following destinations as per the FlyCemair website. [8]

Domestic

International

Fleet

CemAir Beechcraft 1900D Cemair B1900D ZS-OMB (24688522730).jpg
CemAir Beechcraft 1900D
CemAir Bombardier CRJ200 Cemair CL600-2B19 CRJ-100ER ZS-CMB (24002529411).jpg
CemAir Bombardier CRJ200

As of August 2025, CemAir operates the following aircraft: [11]

AircraftIn FleetOrdersPassengersNotes
Beechcraft 1900D 5—19
Bombardier CRJ100 3—50
Bombardier CRJ200 4—50
Bombardier CRJ700 1—70
Bombardier CRJ900 6—90
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 1—37
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q300 2—50
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 4—78
Total26—

Accidents and incidents

CemAir suffered two hull losses in 2008 with aircraft leased out to 3rd parties, one in South Sudan and the other in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

References

  1. ↑ https://za.linkedin.com/in/miles-van-der-molen-b6076a38?trk=pub-pbmap%5B%5D
  2. ↑ "CemAir - Specialised Aircraft Leasing Company - About Us". Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  3. 1 2 "CemAir grounded over safety concerns". Independent Online.
  4. ↑ "Judgement" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "CemAir flights still grounded after failed court bid". Fin24.
  6. ↑ Mkentane, Luyolo (13 May 2019). "CAA's 'irrational' decision to ground CemAir is overturned". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Ethiopian Airlines – oft cited as a possible SAA saviour – just did a local deal".
  8. ↑ FlyCemair website
  9. ↑ "CemAir sees gold in Maun". 16 February 2023.
  10. ↑ Fraser, Luke (3 July 2023). "Two new international flights launching in South Africa". Businesstech.co.za. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2025 - CemAir". Airliner World. September 2025. p. 74.
  12. ↑ "South Sudan declares three-day mourning for crash victims" Sudan Tribune 3 May 2008
  13. ↑ "'No survivors' in DR Congo crash" BBC News 2 September 2008
  14. ↑ Joe Bavier "Aid plane crashes in Congo, no sign of survivors" Reuters 2 September 2008
  15. ↑ Air Serv press release Archived 2008-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "Discussion about airplane crashed in Congo". 2 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  17. ↑ "Aid plane with 17 on board crashes in eastern DR Congo" United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2 September 2008
  18. ↑ "RDC: Un avion humanitaire de l'ONU avec 17 personnes à bord s'écrase dans l'est" (in French) United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2 September 2008
  19. ↑ "Crash d’avion près de Bukavu, 17 morts" (in French) Radio Okapi, 2 September 2008
  20. ↑ "SA pilot killed in DRC crash" Archived 2008-09-08 at the Wayback Machine News24 2 September 2008
  21. ↑ "Crash au Kivu: les secours n'ont pas encore pu atteindre l'épave, selon l'ONU" (in French) 3 September 2008 Archived September 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900C-1 ZS-OLD Bukavu-Kavumu Airport (BKY)".

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