For Tourism Purposes, Ghana Airways Needs To Be Revisited

Ghana Airways was the flag transporter of Ghana, with its primary base of operation and center at Kotoka International Airport in Accra. The airline stopped operations in 2004, in spite of the fact that plans were ongoing to restore it in 2020 in partnership with Egyptair.

The airline was one of the wellspring of revenue generation for the country through tourism. However, this is now a relic of days gone by. Since it halted operations, Ghana has lost heaps of income.

Presently, some concerned officials including the Co-founder behind Afrochella, Abdul Karim Abdullah has uncovered the requirement for the government of Ghana to resuscitate the airline.

According to him, the move will energize more travellers and sightseers to visit the country. Mr Abdul said various things that pose as a challenge to the organization of the Afrochella festival.

One of them, as per him, is the significant expense of trips to Ghana, during the merry season. He says it deters lots of groups and individuals from visiting the country, apart from attending the festival.

Mr Abdul Karim further said, until Ghana government resuscitates Ghana Airways, the potential chance to bring more people into the country will be a failure. And obviously, the cost of venturing out to Ghana is expensive, as people pay lots of dollars for flights.

“Besides this, and in Ghana, there’s also a ‘December tax’, so people pay a little bit more for house rents, food and that could be a barrier for people.” Mr Abdul said.

Abdul added that most tourists that attend the Afrochella festival, leave with good reviews about the country’s safety and beauty.

“Everyone that comes to Ghana, leave very satisfied and fulfilled. I haven’t really heard anyone that has come on our behalf, experience anything that has put their life in danger”, he said.

In 2002, Ghana Airways was somewhere down under water and had a DC-10 held onto by a leaser at Heathrow Airport in London. The airline admitted that it needed to find a partner to survive and, in 2003, signed an agreement with British Midland that saw an Airbus A330 used for long-haul flights.

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In 2004, after ignoring warnings related to its aircraft safety, the United States banned Ghana Airways flights.

Subsequently, the entire board was sacked with the Ghanaian government taking over operations. Unable to service its debt and the government’s refusal to put in more money, Ghana Airways ceased operations in June 2004.

In 2020 the Government of Ghana announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with EgyptAir to restart Ghana Airways. So far, nothing has materialized, and the airline is yet to resume flying.