"No flight on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1" - Ghana Airways

Ghana Airways will not fly any of its aircraft on December 31 and New Year's day, January one, 2000.

Mr N. K. Sykes, Leader of the Airline's Y2K team, has said that the measure would enable it to monitor effectively its technical transition into the New Year. "We will, however, welcome one of our planes from New York on the morning of December 31." He said Ghana Airways, which now has a fleet of five aircraft, is Y2K compliant and operates from a millennium bug-free home base controlled by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, "but we cannot guarantee the readiness of other airports on that day."

Mr Sykes said normal flights would resume on January 2, 2000.Y2K is a computer-programming flaw that could cause computer systems and other electronic devices programmed to record date information in two digits instead of four to malfunction or completely shut down at the turn of the year 2000. Mr Sykes said: "We are liaising with IATA in a co-ordinated effort to ensure Y2K readiness of airports and air traffic systems including those located in Ghana.

"The on-going review project has been well structured in order to provide airline services that will not be adversely affected by the Year 2000 Transition." Other airliners that will not be flying on December 31 include British Airways. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) at the weekend pledged to waive all charges for the first 10 airliners that would take off or land at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) between December 31 and mid-day January one.

Also included are the first 10 airliners that would fly within the Accra Information Region, the airspace of Benin and Togo controlled by KIA, between the said period. Wing Commander Andy Mensah, Director-General of the GCAA, assured stakeholders in the aviation industry that KIA and the GCAA are Y2K compliant. He said GCAA has re-activated its redundant system to meet envisaged and speculative emergencies. It has also installed new equipment that would ensure safety and security of flight operations in the next millennium.