Mr Joseph Kofi Adda,Minister of Aviation
The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has recorded a total 39,217 air traffic movements last year.
The figure represented 7.9 per cent increase over last year’s 36, 354 movements, Managing Director of GACL, Mr John Dekyem Attafuah has stated.
He attributed the growth to the increase in both international and domestic movements in 2017, explaining that the entry of Air France, Mid Africa, the extended route network of African World Airlines as well as other airline operators has boosted international movements in and out of the country.
He also indicated that the increased flights by the African World Airlines on the domestic front further contributed to the gains of the company.
Mr Attafuah announced yesterday at the sixth annual general meeting of the company held in Accra.
According to him, a total of 50,360 tonnages of goods were transported through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in 2017 as compared to 47,677 the previous year.
He said the removal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) component from domestic fares in the first quarter of 2017 increased passenger throughput to 2,509,339 from 2,381,917 in 2016 resulting in a 5.3 percentage increase.
He was of the view that statistics relating to traffic were positive and the overall results were characterised by further improvement in revenue and infrastructure of the company.
Mr Attafuah said the company has adopted pragmatic framework to manage threats and risks as well as a risk register to take a comprehensive view its operating environment.
The Minister of Aviation, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda said service to the airports and the travelling public was key in the operations of the company.
He therefore urged the company to guard against the past experience of some organisations whose operations expanded beyond their core duties resulting in their failure.
He cautioned, “we in the ministry will be watching on the fringes to make sure that this mistake is not repeated under our watch.”
Mr Adda said the ministry would ensure that the aviation sector was not found wanting on matters of accountability and transparency.
GACL has a crucial role to play to help Ghana generate employment, improve economic growth and make the country a preferred destination of choice for travellers, Mr Adda said.
BY JEMIMA ESINAM KUATSINU
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