Ghana is determined to rejoin the aviation world in two months time with the launch of its new airline. The revelation was made by the Ghanian Aviation Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda, on Wednesday, August 14, in Accra at Aviation Ministry’s mid-year performance conference.
Adda said the home-based carrier would connect various African cities with affordable airfares in order to make Ghana a sub-regional hub.
He noted that Ghana’s quest to become West Africa’s aviation hub was on course.
Ghana has been without a national airline since 2010 when Ghana International airlines ceased operation due to high indebtedness.
The aviation minister assured the audience that stakeholders in the home-based carrier are coming on board with expertise, professionalism and well-grounded experience that will add value to the airline and champion the course of socio-economic growth in Ghana.
The Ghanian government signed an agreement with Ethiopian Airlines in late 2018 for the Addis Ababa based airline to help it set up the new national airline in Accra.
The agreement was signed by Ghana’s aviation minister Joseph Adda and Ethiopian’s chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam.
In the agreement, it was cited that the Ghanian government would not retain more than 10 percent of the new airline and at most, two board members. The government said it will not interfere in the running of the airline.
Mr. Kofi Adda continued by congratulating sector agencies for attaining Africa’s highest score in the recent ICAO audit, with 89.89 percent.
“This should serve as a motivation to continue with hard work and demonstrate a high level of professionalism,” Adda said.
According to Adda, with limited government revenue, the role of the private sector would remain increasingly important.
“It is only prudent that we as a sector become very innovative in our way of doing government business to attract the needed capital for the growth of the aviation industry and to create the needed jobs for Ghanaians,” he said.
The conference seeks to among other things address strategies on how to fully utilize the benefits of having Ghana as host to the African Continental Free Trade Headquarters.
Mr. Kofi Adda said “this undoubtedly has significant impact to our aviation hub agenda and the making of Ghana as a destination of choice for all travellers.”
These Are The Airline Routes That Make The Most Money
Travel data firm OAG has released its list of airline routes that make the most money around the world. Once again, British Airways’ service between its hub at London Heathrow and New York JFK tops the rankings, bringing in just under $1.16 billion over the course of a year. It remains the only billion-dollar route in the world, outpacing its closest competitor by nearly $300 million.
Overall, the rankings look very similar to last year’s findings, just with a few routes shifting up or down by a slot. To come to these conclusions OAG compiled data on airline revenues from April 2018 – March 2019.
Commercial flights were categorized by both route and carrier. So, for instance, although American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, and Virgin Atlantic all operate flights between New York JFK and London Heathrow, only British Airways’ service made it onto the top 10 list thanks to the revenue that particular carrier generates with its overall capacity and frequency.
The Rankings
Here are the top 10 flights that earned the most revenue and how many dollars (rounded) each brought in over the time period analyzed.
- British Airways New York JFK to London Heathrow: $1.16 billion
- Qantas Airways Melbourne to Sydney, $861 million
- Emirates London Heathrow to Dubai, $796 million
- Singapore Airlines London Heathrow to Singapore, $736 million
- United Airlines San Francisco to Newark, $689 million
- American Airlines Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK, $662 million
- Qatar Airways London Heathrow to Doha, $639 million
- Cathay Pacific Airways Hong Kong to London Heathrow, $605 million
- Singapore Airlines Sydney to Singapore, $550 million
- Air Canada Vancouver to Toronto Pearson, $541 million
There are several interesting things to note from these rankings.