The long awaited expectation of the people of Upper West to have a commercial flight to operate from the regional capital, Wa will become a reality by the close of next week.
The Minister for Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda affirmed that the expectation of Upper Westerners to board a flight from Wa will be actualized hopefully by next week.
Mr. Adda made the announcement when he inspected the Wa airport on Tuesday, November 13, 2018.
GBC’s Correspondent Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo who was on the inspection tour reports that the Upper West Regional Minister, Alhassan Sulemana and his deputy Amidu Chinnia Issahaku were on hand to play host to the Aviation Minister and his team.
The late afternoon working visit saw Mr. Adda and his team inspecting the two-kilometre runway of the Wa airport, the Air Traffic Control center as well as the arrival and departure wings.
The Minister for Aviation stated that: “We have come on official visit on to inspect the Wa airport and see what work has been done up to date and what is needed to be completed. I think it is fairly okay for us to start operations. Indeed we would have come with commercial airline, indeed Africa World wanted to come but we have to come ahead of them to certify the pressure that they need for the tarmac. They’ve got several codes that they need to assess how strong the runway is, whether the landing and the take-off will be appropriate for them. So that is what we are inspecting now.”
He pointed out that “the technical people will do their testing, they will come back with the reports by the weekend. So we hope by early next week, the operations will start. So we should all hope that we have the money to buy the tickets”.
Mr. Adda who is also the Member of Parliament, (MP) for Navrongo Central talked about the coming on stream of new airlines.
“For your information, there are few other airlines that are coming on board”, he emphasized.
“I think that one has just been granted the approval fully, Unity Air, they are going to add on to African World and Passion Air. We have a few others left. I think, there is one called Baby Jet, we all know it is owned by Asamoah Gyan, the famous footballer. We also have a new one called [KessbenAir], and Ashanti Air is also coming on board. So God willing when they all come onboard and they are operating, it means competition will bring down the cost so you and I will be able to afford the tickets”.
Mr. Adda continued, “Don’t think the ministers have money, we don’t have too much money. So when the cost come down, it is affordable for us. Besides, we don’t only buy for ourselves but sometimes we buy for our constituents to also come to Accra”.
The Aviation Minister stressed the necessity for the Centre for National Culture donated building to be reconfigured to fit for purpose, saying “I see a very good structure, nice building here, I think some modifications are in order, for people to be able to recognize that it is an airport terminal building”.
The Minister for Aviation’s entourage included his Deputy, Kwabena Okyere Darko, the Acting Chief Director of the Aviation Ministry, Christina Edmund, the Director General of the Ghana Civil Aviation, Simon Allotey and the Managing Director the Ghana Airports Company, John Attafuah.
Story by Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
