By Walter Wilson Nana
One of the well known international carriers, Swiss International Airlines, aka Swissair, has decided to stop flying to Cameroon. According to information gathered by Africanews.com, Swissair, which is doing a reassessment of its global flights itinerary, will halt flights to Cameroon in the fourth quarter of 2012 latest.
Our sources, however, said the flight schedule will at least change in the first quarter of 2012, if the route is not completely suspended. The Swiss national carrier flies the Zurich-Douala-Yaounde axis four times weekly. Swissair has not officially stated why it intends to stop flying to Cameroon, but it is understood that the company has been struggling on the Cameroon route.
Although sources failed to confirm to us that the carrier predicated its decision upon high tariffs and poor services, industry rumours speak of a general disaffection among international carriers over the past years with the shoddy services of the Cameroon Airports Authority, better known by its French appellation Aeroports du Cameroun (ADC). Other findings indicated that the decision was hinged on the profit motive, with studies pointing the carrier to more lucrative routes around the world.

But many Cameroonian travelers are likely to interpret Swissair’s decision as being linked to the poor business climate in Cameroon, which international watchdogs have decried over the years. This perception will not be diminished by the fact that the former chairman of the ADC, Roger Ntongo Onguene, is currently on detention for corruption allegations in the ongoing anti-corruption operation in the country.