Dear Madam, a lot of people might be surprised to know that there is an airport in Kribi…

Actually, it is not an airport per se, rather an aerodrome. In aviation, these are two specific facilities.  The minimum is to have an airstrip for planes to land. Once you have this minimum, we can talk of an aerodrome. If in addition to that you add a building to accommodate passengers and additional infrastructures, it becomes an airport. Kribi is not yet there. Now, we just have a laterite airstrip that can accommodate planes and it is always good to have such minimum infrastructure. Some planes do land in Kribi, but we wish to have a few more. As it is said in business, if offer increases, demand follows suit. It means that if people, especially economic operators, and high standing tourists, know that there is an aerodrome in Kribi that is functional, and they might want more than that.

What is the aim of your working visit in the Kribi aerodrome?

We came to take stock and see how we can improve on this aerodrome to have more planes land in Kribi. We equally came to talk with local authorities for better prospects and see how we could develop a modern airport in this city which has huge potential and significant economic and touristic capacities. In a nutshell, we came in Kribi in a prospective approach as it equally behoves the aviation authority to prepare aviation development plans. So, it is not about building an airport now, but rather working on a project, i.e., what we want and what can be done in Kribi. 

What is the outcome of your audience at PAK?

In our prospective approach, it was important to meet with the General Manager of the Port Authority of Kribi which is a major player in the economic development of the city. What we take is that our approach was good and that there is a real need to build a modern airport in Kribi. This, we were told clearly. The General Manager of the Port Authority of Kribi and his staff shared the various current development plans of the Port and of Kribi as well. The discussions were rich and verry fruitful as they help to refine our prospective approach and know more how to tackle this project in the future. We needed PAK’s perspective and also to anticipate on tomorrow’s concerns knowing that land issues are not always easy to handle.