South Africa Airways resumes operations in Ghana
South Africa Airways (SAA) has re-launched its passenger flight operations from Johannesburg to Accra to deepen Ghana and South Africa bilateral relations in the airline transportation industry.
The SA 052 Airbus first flight arrived last Friday (24 September) night at 2254 hours at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
Kweku Ofori Asiamah, the Minister of Transport, in a speech read on his behalf at a press briefing, commended South Africa Airways for the decision to re-launch the Johannesburg route on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
He expressed optimism that the three times weekly service would increase to daily flights while congratulating the airline for a successful re-launch into the aviation space within “the shortest possible time.”
He said the aviation industry was beginning to pick up after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic adding that the re-launch was an important step to fill the vacuum created by the long absence.
“As a government, we recognise the contribution of airline operations to the socio-economic growth of the aviation industry, especially in the period when the industry is struggling to survive,” he said.
“The Ministry wishes to assure South Africa Airways and other airlines of our unflinching support to promote and facilitate airline operations in Ghana.”
Ofori Asiamah said the government was committed to providing a stable and enabling environment for the growth of the industry and that the Ministry was in partnership with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to ensure the safety of the airports from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
He said the Airports Council International (ACI) ranked Kotoka International Airport as the Best Airport in Africa by size in 2019 and 2020 because of the strong policy initiatives and adherence to high Airports Service Quality.
“In February 2021, Kotoka International Airport received the ‘Voice of Customer Recognition’ from ACI, for demonstrating significant effort in obtaining customer feedback during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He assured international passengers of high-quality service at Kotoka as their destination or transit port.
Yaw Kwakwa, managing director, Ghana Airport Company Limited, said the commencement of the route to Ghana was a demonstration of the confidence in Ghana’s aviation industry and the great strides made in positioning the country as a leader in airport business in West Africa.
He said the rollout of the vaccines had offered hope to the aviation sector, which would enable South Africa Airways to achieve a consistently high on-time departure and arrival performance.
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That, he stated, was in line with its mission of providing world-class facilities and services for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Grace Jeanette Mason, the South African High Commissioner to Ghana, expressed the readiness of South Africa Airways to partner with Ghana to achieve financial management, leading to job creation in the aviation industry.
Gloria Wilkinson Mensa, the country manager of South Africa Airways, assured passengers of quality service and convenience.
“Pan-African airline group”
Meanwhile, South Africa Airways (SAA) and Kenya Airways (KQ) have signed a cooperation agreement with a long-term view to create a pan-African airline group, the two companies said on Tuesday.
“It is not a merger but a partnership that seeks to re-organise KQ and SAA assets into an ecosystem that will make the South African and Kenyan aviation sector more competitive,” Kenya Airways said in a statement.
SAA said in a separate statement that the pact did not preclude either firm from pursuing commercial cooperation with other carriers and said collaborating would help contain costs.
State-owned SAA restarted domestic flights last week and this week launches a scaled-down international service to five African capitals after its longstanding financial woes were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It exited administration in April thanks to another state bailout, and the government has said it will sell a 51% stake in the airline to a local consortium.
