Vice Presiudent Dr. Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) led by Akufo-Addo seems
determined in their effort to set up a national airline for the country.
Apart from being in consultation with a number of
partners and potential investors including Ethiopian Airline to begin the
process and building the capacity of needed aviation professionals with
aviation training, it has also invested over $7million) to install three new
navigational equipments to boost safety and security in Ghana’s air space.
The equipments – a Very Small Aperture Terminal
System (VSAT), Air Traffic Management System (ATMs) and Very High Frequency
Radio Systems (VHFRs) are expected to further facilitate the GCAA’s Air Navigation
Service provision and ensure safety to commensurate with the expansion in
aviation infrastructure.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who made the
revelation said “we will continue to make the Ghana Civil Aviation Training
Academy (GATA) a Centre of Excellence to develop the needed technical capacity
on the continent.”
This was when he addressed the International Air
Transport Association (IATA) Regional Aviation Forum in Accra yesterday, saying
“we acknowledge our primary responsibility for aviation development and
reiterate Government’s commitment to aligning and integrating our aviation
infrastructure development plans with an appropriately balanced development of
transport modes and linking them with national and regional development plans
and strategies.”
Industry
Challenges
He expressed concerns over aviation taxes, fees,
fuel cost and insurance, which according to him could be impediments to the
development of the airline industry, aside the issues of poor access to
financing means that there can be limited investments in new aircrafts.
Going Forward
The Vice President therefore stressed the need to
strengthen coordination and harmonization in regional policies.
He also talked of the need to regulate access to
air transport markets, as recommended in the Yamoussoukro Decision of November
14, 1999 and echoed in Single Air Transport Markets of the 2017 Solemn
Commitment.
On his part, Director General of the Ghana Civil
Aviation Authority (GCAA), Engineer Simon Allotey decried the rate of aviation accidents
in Africa even though the continent carries only 2% of the world’s air travels.
He thus stressed the need for a conscious effort to make change the tide whiles strengthening good corporate governance in the industry.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent
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