Airlines resume flights

All local and international airlines operating at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) have resumed full operation after they suspended their activities temporarily as a result of the poor visibility posed by the harmattan, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has said.

Some of the airlines that are operating at the moment are Africa World Airlines (AWA), Starbow, Egypt Air, Emirates, Arik Air, Delta Airlines and Kenyan Airways. 

The temporary suspension of operations became necessary when the atmosphere became foggy as a result of the harmattan.

The situation got a lot of passengers stranded at the various terminals of the KIA partly because flights could neither land nor take off.

Assurance

But speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview, the Director General of the GCAA, Mr Simon Allotey, assured passengers that they could heave a sigh of relief as they could now travel with ease, since a lot of the airlines had started operation.

“With the exception of Starbow, which cancelled a particular flight from Kumasi to Accra as a safety precaution, all the others are now operating fully.

“The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) has assured us that the weather is clear above 1,000 metres and that airlines can fly without difficulty,” he said.    

Mr Allotey said it was expected that the situation would continue to stabilise over the weekend and the rest of the days, emphasising that passengers would be duly notified whenever there were changes in the weather condition in the coming days.

Proactive

He also asked the various airlines to be proactive and give passengers prior notice whenever there were flight cancellations.

“But I must admit that sometimes these airlines do inform their passengers about the changes, but things could happen at any time, hence the need for close collaboration,” he added.

Background

In the last few days, many passengers had been left stranded at the KIA due to the temporary suspension of flights.

Even though the situation is not new, passengers got worried, since they had to cancel some important meetings they were scheduled to attend.

In 2015, the hazy harmattan weather that engulfed the country for about three days compelled domestic airlines to suspend their flights.

Some passengers who were scheduled to travel to Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi were stranded at the departure terminal at the KIA.