Passenger comfort is paramount - Aviation Minister

New Minister for Aviation, Ms Cecilia Dapaah says her ministry is upbeat about securing the comfort of passengers travelling through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and all regional airports in the country.

The Minister during a familiarization tour of facilities at the airport gave instructions for the bathrooms to be made more baby-friendly.

Ms Dapaah apprised herself with the workings of on-going structural projects and interacted with passengers on arrival and due to depart Accra.

After meeting Management and staff of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Ms Dapaah said she was impressed with the high morale of the workers and assured them of her ministry’s support.

“My interaction with staff of GACL was a very lively one and I can confidently say that the prospects are bright” the Minister told this reporter in an interview.

Staff at the airport, she indicated were professionals and were up to their various tasks.

She stated further that she had been briefed about the statuses of the regional airports in the country however she had to visit each of them to be able to ascertain their readiness to meet the needs of the travelling public.

Fifth Freedom Traffic rights

In an interview with this paper, the Minister revealed government’s intention to renegotiate existing Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights as it firms up plans to establish a new national airline to serve the West African market.

“We haven’t granted all and what we have granted are for a specified period so after the period elapses we will renegotiate and get the best for Ghana,” she said.

The exercise of Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights on the continent has led to increased intra-Africa city pairing and passenger traffic in the West Africa sub-region.

By virtue of the Fifth Freedom traffic rights, large European, American and Gulf carriers, are able to operate flights directly from their respective bases into Accra and then fly into a neighbouring West Africa country before flying back to their bases via Accra.

South African Airways (SAA), Emirates, and Moroccan national carrier-Royal Air Maroc, all have fifth freedom traffic rights that allow them to fly from their home bases to Accra and then service other destinations in the sub-region from Accra.