Ghanair Flights Barred From US

Ghana Airways flights have been barred from entering the United States, albeit temporarily. Sources at the airline told the Independent newspaper that as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen security in the United States, all airline operators were recently requested to fix specifically designed bullet proof cock-pit doors on their aircraft.

Though Ghana Airways was informed of this development last September through letters from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Director General of the GCAA and the erstwhile Ministry of Roads and Transport, Ghanair had not complied with the directive.

The paper was informed that Ghanair’s two DC 10 aircrafts are presently in Rome, Italy, undergoing maintenance checks and may be fitted with the special cock-pit doors before they are flown down to resume operations. Snap checks at the Accra Airport revealed that the last Ghanair flight to the US left last Friday.

Ghana Airways is said to have succeeded in resorting to a chartered aircraft to lift its passengers to and from the US in the interim whilst it works to change the doors on the aircraft to meet standards required by the US authorities.