Coronavirus; Goldstar Air to offer GHC5,000 seed money to travel agencies

Goldstar Air, a wholly-owned Ghanaian airline has pledged to offer seed money of Ghc 5,000.00 for travel agencies that have registered with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) for over a year.

Mr. Eric Bannerman, Executive Chairman of Goldstar Air, announced the package in an interview with Rainbowradioonline.com, after the airline indicated its readiness to start operations.

He further explained to Rainbowradioonline.com that the agencies must also be willing to apply for Goldstar Air’s local billing system and pay the same amount or more to sell its tickets.

He was asked what the airline company which also has a travel and tour agency as a subsidiary, would do to bring back travel agencies, which are fading gradually due to COVID-19 and competition from operating airlines.

Mr. Bannerman answered: ‘Instead of Goldstar Air directly competing with the travel agencies, we intend to establish good working relationships in the form of strategic alliances to keep all of the Ghanaian travel agencies in business for them to keep their staffs as well.

‘As a matter of fact, about 90 per cent of the travel agencies in Ghana do not have the international billing system because of the $50, 000 bank guarantee, so this will come as a relief to them and we will also offer Ghana tour operators competitive air tickets to their clients, ensuring customer satisfaction at all times.’

He expressed appreciation to the United States of America, to have offered them two years free landing, parking, advert and office space by Mr. Pimental, Assistant Vice President Air service Development at Providence International Airport and Mr. Storck, Director Air Service Department and Strategic Analysis at Baltimore Washington International Airport.

He disclosed: ”In Scotland, which will be our future destination, we have been offered one year free landing, parking and office space by Mr. Paul White, Business Development Manager and Mr. Robert Love, Aero Commercial Analyst at Glasgow International Airport.”

Mr. Bannerman said the objective of Goldstar Air was to focus, promote and protect the interests of Ghanaians. The airline will do its part to help improve the Ghanaian economy through the provision of affordable and available International business. Improve the lives of Ghanaians through the provision of affordable and available international travel and provide job opportunities and aviation-related training to Ghanaians especially the youth.

Goldstar Air will be creating a minimum of five thousand direct and indirect jobs in Ghana. Some of the jobs which the youth will benefit are Pilots, Ground Service Crew, Service person in maintenance, Cabin crew, Counter Agents, Travel Agents, Tour Operators, Country Managers, Stations Managers, Accountants, flight dispatch, Drivers, Marketing Personnel, Air Marshalls, Cargo Agents, Catering Services, Hotel Accommodations, Fuel Suppliers etc.

Goldstar Air will also bring more benefits to travelers in terms of services and fares.

The airline has, therefore, made adequate provisions to cater for passengers by introducing Ghanaian dishes, listen to announcements, tit-bits in our local dialects, watch local movies and also listen to local music as a way of showcasing the Ghanaian culture to the rest of the world. Goldstar Air cabin crew will be selling made in Ghana goods and promoting Ghana tourist sites on board, as we would like our passengers to have a smile when leaving our offices and our aircrafts.

He said: ‘You can sign up for our Frequent Flyer miles on our “Chalewote” card which worth more per mile when you fly on Goldstar Air long haul flights and business class seats. Goldstar Air will like to move together with our cherish passengers that is why the Frequent Flyer card is named “Chalewote” which in the Ghanaian local dialect means “Lets Go Together”.

Goldstar Air’s operation is to inject a rapid growth to the West African tourism market which is currently under-serviced. As a Ghanaian registered Company, we plan to utilize the country’s status as the “Gateway to West Africa” to develop the West Africa market by introducing scheduled flights from all the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African.

The airline will initially be flying to twelve destinations worldwide from Accra, namely London, Dubai, Guangzhou, Washington Baltimore International, Lagos, Abidjan, Monrovia, Freetown, Banjul, Conakry, Providence International, Dakar, and pending cities, Atlanta-Georgia, Chicago-Illinois, Columbus-Ohio and Houston-Texas. Goldstar Air will be flying one of the youngest fleets in the sky, featuring the world’s most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly aircrafts and projecting a fleet of more than 100 modern aircrafts to more than 90 key business and leisure destination across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Caribbean and North America.