Ghana to operate own airline by March

• Posted on January 14, 2019
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

Ghana will be operating its own home-based air carrier by the first quarter of this year, the Minister of Aviation, Mr Joseph Adda, has stated.
He said the ministry had already entered into an understanding with Ethiopian Airlines and was also engaging with some investors who want to participate in the effort.

He disclosed that there would be further negotiations held in February that would be concluded by the end of March when “hopefully the operationalisation of a home-based carrier will commence.”

Mr Adda made the disclosure at a stakeholders’ meeting at Aburi in the Eastern Region last Wednesday on the theme, ‘Aviation – Catalyst for Ghana’s Socio-Economic Development.’

Safety

He said in line with ensuring safety in the airline’s operations, services provided by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) would be upgraded to meet global standards.

“We’re going to review what is happening in other parts of the world and would add up new technology to already existing ones to enable us provide safe navigation, and the GCAA is going to feed us with information on how to undertake that,” he said.

According to the minister, the GCAA would ensure that all services that go with operating an airline – pilot, cabin crew, technicians, hangar and so on – are modelled in a manner that will serve the country’s purpose.

He added that the authority was working with investor partners to come up with the best model.

Training schools

Mr Adda further revealed that investors in the business would set up pilot training facilities and cabin crew training programmes in Ho and Tamale.

“This would be an opportunity for those Ghanaian youth who are technology inclined and would like to become pilots and airline technicians to get themselves trained to achieve their goals,” he said.

The Aviation Minister said, together with the Ministry of Finance, a portfolio was going to be set up to add up to the Student Loan Trust, so that intelligent but less endowed Ghanaians who are technically skilled would come by funds to train as pilots and airline technicians.