AVIATION NEWS | GHANA AND BEYOND

  Five Ghanaians have been detained by Police in Dubai for drug trafficking. One of them is serving a 10-year jail term as a result. They were arrested from the Dubai international airport while allegedly attempting to smuggle marijuana into the United Arab Emirates within the first quarter of 2021. In a statement, Ghana’s consulate in Dubai disclosed that the substances usually concealed in food items were reportedly given to travellers by their agents in Ghana. They are therefore cautioning travellers to desist from receiving items from agents or other persons unless they can establish the exact contents of such packages. Read full statement below  Source :khaleej Times | Category | Aviation News

  The UK government has announced travel restrictions could ease next month, just in time for summer travel. Hopes are rising for foreign holidays to be allowed for UK travellers. Under proposals that could come into force from 17 May, countries will be placed in a traffic light system with green, amber and red lists. These will determine whether, and where, travellers must isolate on returning to England, government officials confirmed. Ministers are expected to confirm at the start of May whether travel can resume on 17 May, and will also then give the first list of countries in each colour-based list. What is the UK’s traffic light system? The UK’s traffic light proposal shows green, orange and red list countries, which are identified by the risk of contracting COVID-19. This is measured by factors including: Percentage of population that has had the vaccine Rate of infection Prevalence of new or emerging variants Access to reliable scientific data The  ‘red list’  cur...

  The Akyem Oda Police has arrested Joseph Kwasi Effah alias Kwasi Tailor, Kwabena Akwaah, 45, and Kwasi Bosompem Mensah, 58, all members of the local community watchdog committee in connection with the killing of Prince Kwabena Kumi on April 1, 2018. He was shot at close range to death at Akyem Asuboa near his home in the Eastern Region. According to Starrfm.com.gh, the prime suspect, Joseph Kwasi Effah alias Kwasi Tailor said he killed the Aeronautic Engineer with his locally made single barrel gun. He narrated that on the night of March 31, 2018, at about 9:00 pm he was assigned together with his colleague Kwabena Akwaah, 45 to patrol Asuboa bungalow to Cannan junction as community watchdog members. Joseph Kwasi Effah added that at about 1:35 am their patrol took them to Dabiso junction but he heard the sound of a pig in a nearby bush where he shot in the direction but he later discovered that he had rather shot a human being. He and his accomplice Kwabena Akwaah abandoned the b...

  Africa World Airlines (AWA) is set to start the commercial use of the Ho airport which has been lying fallow since its completion in 2016. The facility, according to the Ghana Airport Company Limited, will cut travel time between Ho and Accra from 3 hours by road to about 30 minutes by air. The Head of Commercial at AWA, Adedayo Olawuyi, during a stakeholder engagement in Ho organized for the Ghana Airport Company Limited, Ghana Tourism Authority, Africa World Airline, and the Ghana Hoteliers Association, indicated that plans are afoot for AWA to fly to Ho at an initial rate of GHS99 by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Mr Adedayo Olawuyi also indicated that AWA is contemplating a twice-a-week travel routine along the route, i.e., Mondays and Fridays. Madam Amma Faake Gadzekpo, Head of Business Development Services at the Ghana Airport Company during her address at the stakeholder engagement, also indicated that the GACL has put in place adequate arrangements to ensure ease o...

  Belgium’s prime minister has announced the country will reopen restaurants and bars for outdoor service next month, and lift a night-time curfew. The decision comes as COVID-19 cases continue to decrease. And other countries, including Switzerland and Denmark, also announced on Wednesday relaxation of measures was incoming. Belgium Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo made the announcement at a news conference in Brussels following a seven-hour meeting with regional leaders who struggled to find a compromise. "We saw that the number of infections has clearly decreased during the last weeks, we saw that the reproduction rate is under one, and we see that the hospitalization rate starts to decrease too," De Croo said. Bars and restaurants have been shut down since mid-October because of the pandemic but their owners have been lobbying to reopen and protesting in recent weeks. Barring a new surge in cases, De Croo said they will be authorised to reopen their terraces from ...

  The world’s biggest airline association has developed an app that will mean you can have testing, vaccine and policy information all in one place. It is currently in trial stages but could provide a route to a less complicated route to travel as the world comes back from COVID-19. Lots of big airlines have signed up to trial the digital programme created by International Air Transport Association (IATA) that will act as a “ vaccine passport ” of sorts. IATA represents 290 airlines, that’s 82 per cent of global air traffic, and has a big influence over  international travel protocols . But what is the IATA travel pass? Which countries and airlines are using it? And how can it help you if you’re looking to  go abroad this year ? What will the IATA travel pass do? IATA believe that existing COVID-related travel procedures leave passengers confused. They want to combine testing, vaccine, and policy information in one mobile phone application that is accessible to travellers...

  The first passengers travelling to Barcelona trialled the service to verify and share their pre-travel Covid-19 test status. Dubai's flagship airline Emirates on Thursday commenced trials of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass -- a mobile app to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with any government requirements for Covid-19 testing or vaccine information. The first passengers travelling from Dubai to Barcelona on EK185 today trialled the 'digital passport' to verify and share their pre-travel Covid-19 test status with Emirates. The trials are a step towards making travel more convenient, enabling travellers to manage Covid-19 related documentation digitally, safely and seamlessly throughout the travel experience. In the future, travellers will also be able to share vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel. Adel Al Redha, Emirates' Chief Operating Officer said: "The ability...

  Kotoka International Airport (KIA) has received the 2020 Airport Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award for ‘Best Airport by Size and Region (2-5Million Passengers)’. The award is ACI’s recognition of GACL’s effort in providing superior customer experience at KIA. It will be recalled that KIA received the ASQ award for ‘Best Airport by Size and Region’ and Most Improved Airport in Africa in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on global passenger traffic in 2020 as well as changing customer perceptions and expectations of the airport experience. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, airports managed to collect ASQ surveys from their customers throughout the year. ACI (ASQ) programme is the only world-renowned and established global benchmarking programme that measures passengers’ satisfaction whilst they are travelling through an airport. KIA signed onto the programme on 20th December 2017 and has been a member from 1st January 2018 t...