AFA takes delivery of jet

Accra, Aug 30, GNA - Africa World Airlines (AFA), a Ghanaian registered airline soon to begin operations in the domestic flight industry, has taken delivery of the first aircraft, an Embraer ERJ-145LR jet.

The aircraft, with registration number 9G-AET would seat 50 passengers and be operated by two pilots and either one or two cabin crew.

Speaking at the ceremony to welcome the aircraft and its crew at The Kotoka International Airport on Thursday, Togbe Afede XIV, Founder of AFA and Abgogbomefia of Asogli State, said the ceremony was not only to celebrate the arrival of an aircraft but also to celebrate the conversion of a dream into reality.

He said the airline intended to make a difference in the aviation of Ghana and the West African sub-region when it began operations adding that the model would open up the sub-region by linking all the city pairs in it.

“Gone would be the days when someone travelling from Accra to Burkina Faso would have to possibly connect to France to get to his destination, we intend to link all the cities and we intend to make Accra the hub of aviation in the sub-region.

He commended staff and partners of AFA as well as the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for their support and pledged the airline's commitment to working closely with the GCAA to ensure that Accra became and remained the aviation hub in West Africa.

Mr Twumasi Ankrah Selby, Chief Director of the Ministry of Transport, who represented the sector minister, said the introduction of AFA was in line with the Ministry's policy objective of making the KIA a hub and a milestone in Ghana's aviation industry.

He said the airline's operations would help to improve air transport in Ghana as well as connectivity within the sub-region.

Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey, Director-General of the GCAA, said the introduction of AFA was a clear manifestation of the government of Ghana's liberalization policy and assured the public that the GCAA had closely monitored the processes from the beginning.

He congratulated Togbe Afede for patiently going through the stringent requirements saying: “Safety remains the cornerstone of our operations and we would ensure that Africa World maintains safety to the highest standards. This time the travelling public have a choice when they want to travel within the country and we are going to see the fares war also begin and this would be to the advantage of the good people of Ghana”.

"Well done Africa World and be mindful of the fact that GCAA is always around the corner, looking and inspecting to ensure that you meet the maximum safety standards,” he said.

The aircraft is the first of two to be used by the airline to commence operations on September 21, 2012 and is under the command of Captain Ivan Nartey, Deputy Head of Flight Operations, AFA, and Captain Tommy Jfeld, Training Pilot from Norway and Senior First Officer Kenneth Bruce-Tagoe.

Other members of the crew who flew the aircraft from Tianjin, China to Accra were two engineers, an inspector from the GCAA and a flight co-coordinator.

The aircraft is one of the 1000th ERJ family aircraft produced and one of the youngest of its kind (four years old), powered by a two Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines, with a range of almost 3000 kilometres and able to fly at a speed of 851 kilometers per hour at a height of 37000 feet.

GNA