Cameroon: Douala Airport told to shut down by regulator

The airport of Cameroon’s port city, Douala, has been told to shut down by the ICAO because of the poor state of its runways and a general lack of maintenance, according to airport authorities. Complaints by 15 airlines, including Air France and Turkish Airlines, about the condition of the Douala airport prompted an audit by ICAO inspectors earlier this month. The document cites, among other issues, runways in need of repair, poor maintenance of computer equipment and the location of the facility, which is close to residential areas. “We have forwarded the ICAO order to the government and precisely the Ministry of Transport, under whose authority the airport is operated,” Thomas Owona Assoumou, managing director of the Airport Authority of Cameroon, said Tuesday.<br/>