GIS ends filling of embarkation, disembarkation cards at KIA
THE Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has commenced a 10-day pilot to end the filling of embarkation and disembarkation cards by travellers at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
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The new measure, which commenced last Tuesday, is in line with the digitalisation agenda of the government and it is expected to be fully rolled out on March 31, 2023.
A letter signed by the Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Charles Kraikue, to the Board of Airlines Representatives-Ghana said: “In line with the government of Ghana’s digitalisation agenda, the GIS will no longer accept embarkation and disembarkation cards completed by travellers at the Immigration processing booths as part of entry and exit formalities.”
Instead, the letter, which was made available to the Daily Graphic, said: “A traveller would be required to provide key information on presentation at the Immigration processing booth.”
To that end, it said, the GIS would commence a 10-day piloting of the newly introduced measure from March 21, 2023 and the full roll out of same on March 31, 2023.
“By this letter, the Board of Airlines Representatives-Ghana is kindly requested to notify its members of the introduction of this new measure in the airport facilitation process,” it added.
Background
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in a Facebook post earlier last month, had hinted that passengers travelling to Ghana would, from March 31, this year, not be required to fill out landing cards, since the information could be obtained electronically.
He indicated that stakeholders in the transport and aviation industry arrived at the decision after a meeting with him.
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“I held a productive meeting on improving the competitiveness of the KIA with key stakeholders, including the Minister for Public Enterprises, the Minister of Transport and his deputy, the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), the GIS, the National Security and the Ministry of the Interior,” the Vice-President said.
He said it was decided, among others, that airline passengers travelling to Ghana would, from March 31, 2023, no longer be required to fill out landing cards because the same information could be obtained electronically.
In addition, Dr Bawumia said, the processes that passengers went through at the KIA were also going to be streamlined to drastically reduce the time spent by passengers and avoid duplication.
He said the Ministry of the Interior and the GIS had been directed to ensure that E-gates would be operational at the KIA this year for use by passengers using their passports or Ghana cards.
Ghana Card
In March last year, a number of Ghanaian passengers were for the first time admitted into the country with the Ghana Card, instead of passports.
In all, 14 passengers on board an Ethiopian Airline (ET 921) from Addis Ababa which touched down about 11:15 a.m. on March 1, 2022 went through the process, which was conducted by officials of the GIS.
That came to light when the GIS took some media personnel to the Arrival Hall of Terminal Three at the KIA to observe the process as part of the official introduction of the use of the Ghana Card as an ICAO-compliant travel document on March 1, 2022.