Three More International Airlines To Ply Ghana's Airspace

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is expected to add three more international airlines to Ghana's airspace by the end of the year, Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey(Rtd), Director-General of GCAA announced on Friday. He said negotiations between GCAA and the airlines on securing operating permits were far advanced and at the appropriate time, their identities would be made public. The three new carriers would bring to 36, airlines plying Ghana's airspace when they begin operations while domestic airlines are three. Air Commodore Mamphey was addressing the opening session of the Third Annual Conference of Women Aviators in Africa, in Accra. He said GCAA was progressively moving the aviation industry forward to improve the safety of the airspace, and make Kotoka International Airport (KIA) an attractive hub in West Africa. The three-day conference organised by Women Aviators in Africa is bein= g attended by representatives from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso= , Senegal, Holland and the United States. It would discuss ways to encourage African women to pursue careers in promoting the aviation industry. Women Aviators in Africa is an organisation of African women working in the aviation industry. Air Commodore Mamphey said, 93With excellent infrastructure, a burgeoning economy, we have been continually improving the aviation industry which has been rewarded with more carriers choosing to use Ghana as a West African destination". He stressed the need for increased women involvement in the aviation industry because they continued to be major contributors to development on the continent. Air Commodore Mamphey said, 93As Ghana works to stem the flow of brai= n drain that had affected Africa, women may be the way forward to form an integral part of aviation workforce". Dr John Tambi, Transport Expert at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) called on operators at African airports to come togethe= r to form a single airspace to reduce the cost of operations and to ensure efficiency. He said the history of the development of the aviation industry discouraged women from getting involved in the sector and called for it to be demystified for increased women participation. Dr Tambi observed that women were now a missing link in the aviation industry and said it was time for women to play a leadership role in the industry. Madam Chloe Grant, Vice President of Women Aviators in Africa said apart from the cabin crew, women working in the aviation industry was low, a situation which did not augur well for the development of the industry. She said on global basis, women participation in the industry was estimated at six per cent while in Africa it was lower than six per cent.