Aviation This Week – July Edition 3

Highlights for this week’s edition of ‘Aviation This Week’ are topical industry stories from July 12 – 17, 2021 relevant to Ghana’s aviation space. The summaries are as follows:

Qatar Airways and RwandAir Team Up to Reward Loyalty

Qatar Airways and RwandAir have teamed up to extend the rewards members on their loyalty programs get. Under this new partnership, customers of RwandAir’s Dream Club and Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club can both use miles earned to unlock travel offers on either airline.

KLM Restores African Network

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is now flying to all of its 11 destinations before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the airline’s frequencies to these destinations are not the same as pre-pandemic levels. The routes are flights from its hub in Amsterdam to Accra, Cairo, Johannesburg, Kigali, Cape Town, Nairobi, Lagos, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Entebbe.

Reason Why Domestic Airlines have Refused to Fly to Wa Airport

Aviation Ghana, an aviation industry monitor, has disclosed that the inability of local airlines to fly to the Wa Airport in recent times is due to a telecommunication mast closer to the airport. The mast according to the report, obstructs smooth landings.

It will be recalled that Africa World Airlines which used to operate to the Wa Airport disclosed in April this year that the reason for its flight suspension to the airport is due to safety concerns.

Ethiopian Ranked Amongst Top 20 Global Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines has been ranked amongst the top 20 global airlines by the International Air Transport Association in its 2021 World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) Report. Data from the report gives an insight into the performance of airlines and an evaluation of the global aviation market.

Ghana Seeking to Merge Passport and Ghana Card

The National Identification Authority of Ghana has revealed its plans of seeking to merge the passports of Ghanaians with the Ghana Card (citizen identification card). When merged successfully, Ghanaians will be able to use the Ghana Card to perform the functions of the passport.

Industry Experts Propose COVID-19 Tests over Vaccination as Requirement for International Travels

With the COVID-19 pandemic lingering on, some industry experts have called on governments across the globe not to make COVID-19 vaccination the only key requirement for entry into their countries. The concerns come at the back of the inequality in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines globally.

COVID-19 negative test results have been suggested as an alternative to the compulsory vaccination requirements for travels internationally.