Two Sherpas and two VIPs delivered to Maroua-Salak International Airport
These vehicles will be in operation at Maroua-Salak International Airport, which serves the city of Maroua in the far north of Cameroon. It is the country’s fourth largest airport by traffic volume.
In March 2013, Sides delivered four firefighting vehicles to the Cameroonian aeronautics authority – two VIMP 68.25 “Sherpas” and two Flyco “VIP” models. These vehicles will be in operation at Maroua-Salak International Airport, which serves the city of Maroua in the far north of Cameroon. It is the country’s fourth largest airport by traffic volume.
The formal handover ceremony was held at the fire station at Douala International Airport on 28 March 2013. The event was attended by the Deputy Managing Director of the CCAA, Mr. Allabira Mamadou, along with Mr. Frédéric Mbotto Edimo, Cameroon Representative of ASECNA, and a representative from Sides.
The two VMP 68.25 Sherpa vehicles are foam vehicles designed for airport firefighting operations. They able to carry 6,100 litres of water, 250 kg of dry powder and foam compound. The two Flyco VIP models are emergency response vehicles fitted with two carbon dioxide (CO2) bottles and powder.
ASCENA was called upon by the Cameroonian authorities to assist with the acquisition process. The organisation is responsible for managing air traffic services in 17 African countries and has its own central purchasing group. Sides Service – the service arm of Sides – provided a 15-year spare part availability guarantee for the vehicles in question, as well as training staff and installing the vehicles in Maroua.
Once the vehicles had been delivered to Douala, Sides Service delivered a 10-day training programme involving eight firefighters from the airfield. The training was intended to be a technical refresher course, as the team of firefighters were more accustomed to driving 20-30 year-old firefighting vehicles.
Future opportunities
The delivery of these vehicles provided an opportunity for Sides to cement its growth in Cameroon and in Africa as a whole. According to Allabira Mamadou, Deputy Managing Director of the Aeronautics Authority, “this is the first stage of the CCAA’s investment plan. Additional response equipment will also be provided at Ngaoundéré and Bafoussam airports. We decided to start with Maroua-Salak as it is a fast-growing international airport and the existing equipment was outdated. We therefore needed to acquire new equipment for this airport on an urgent basis.”
More to come!
