> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thecontrail.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # DR Congo Just Gave Its Airlines a Month to Stop Flying Where They Aren't Allowed - URL: https://www.thecontrail.org/dr-congo-airlines-one-month-deadline/ - Published: 2026-11-09T20:13:47.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-09T20:13:47.000Z - Description: Some DR Congo airlines are flying to stops their licenses don't cover. The regulator gave them until early December to fix it, and flights keep running until then. - Author: Zach Benitez - Tags: News, Africa DR Congo airlines have one month to get their paperwork in order, and honestly, I'm glad to see it. The country's civil aviation regulator, the Autorité de l'aviation civile (AAC), has found that some carriers are flying to stops that aren't listed on their Air Operator Certificates, the official licenses that spell out where an airline is allowed to fly. Instead of grounding those flights overnight and stranding passengers, the regulator is giving airlines a grace period to fix it. So if you're flying around DR Congo this month, nothing changes. The real test comes after the deadline in roughly early December, when I'll be watching to see which airlines did their homework. DR Congo · Civil aviation One Month to Fix Route Licenses Oct. 29Letter on submitting a list of airlines operating in the country Nov. 6Regulator grants a one-month grace period for stops missing from airline certificates NowAffected flights keep running and flight plans keep getting approved \~Early Dec.Deadline passes and the regulator sends a new list of approved airlines The rule: airlines can't change the routes on their certificate **without the regulator's approval** (Article 115, civil aviation law). Graphic: ContrailContrail --- ## What the Regulator Decided AAC director-general Jean Tshiumba Mpunga granted the one-month grace period in a Nov. 6 letter to the head of the Régie des voies aériennes (RVA), the agency that runs DR Congo's air navigation services, according to the Congolese Press Agency. It followed an earlier Oct. 29 letter about submitting a list of the airlines operating in the country. The rule behind it is Article 115 of DR Congo's civil aviation law, first passed in 2010 and amended in 2023\. It bars airlines running scheduled flights from changing the routes on their certificates without the regulator's permission first. Think of it like a bus company that's licensed for certain routes and quietly starts adding extra towns. It might make business sense, but it still needs sign-off. During the grace period, Mpunga asked the RVA to tell its flight plan staff to keep approving the affected flights. Once the month is up, the AAC will send the RVA a new list of airlines cleared to operate in the country. ## Know Before You Fly Get the airline and airport changes that affect your trip, sent free. Get Contrail Free Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- ## What It Means If You're Flying For the next few weeks, you won't notice a thing. The grace period exists precisely so flights aren't cut without warning, and I think that's the right call in a country where flying is often the only practical way to get between cities. The risk comes after the deadline. If an airline hasn't gotten a stop added to its certificate by then, flight plans to that stop could stop being approved, which would mean cancellations. The regulator hasn't said publicly which airlines or which stops are involved, so it isn't known whether any particular carrier, including the country's fast-growing Air Congo, is among them. If you're booked on a domestic flight in DR Congo for December or later, especially to a smaller city, check with your airline closer to the date and keep a backup plan in mind. --- ## Our Take I cover a lot of African aviation at Contrail, and DR Congo is one of the stories on the continent I find most interesting right now. It's a country about a quarter the size of the US with very few roads that connect its major cities, so airlines aren't a luxury there. They're how people and goods actually move. That's exactly why the boring stuff, like licenses and route approvals, matters so much. DR Congo has spent years trying to repair its safety reputation. Every airline certified in the country is still on the European Union's air safety list, which bans them from flying in EU airspace, and the European Commission confirmed that again in 2025\. But the country's score in international safety audits has climbed a long way, from 11% in 2006 to just over 64% in 2023, above the 60% threshold set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Enforcing who's allowed to fly where is the kind of oversight that eventually gets a country off that list. It also lands at a moment when things are moving fast, with [Air Congo growing quickly](https://www.thecontrail.org/air-congo-airline-growth/) and even [adding a Boeing 787-9](https://www.thecontrail.org/air-congo-boeing-787-9-miat/). Growth like that is exciting, but it only sticks if the rules keep up, and the [L410 crash near Kenge](https://www.thecontrail.org/dr-congo-l410-crash-kenge/) was a reminder of what's at stake. To me, a one-month warning with flights still running is a pretty grown-up way to handle it. Now the regulator has to follow through, and I'll be keeping an eye on whether it does. I'll update this story if the AAC names the airlines involved or announces what happens when the deadline passes.