Two new international boarding gates have been constructed to serve customers at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and to help reduce the jam of traffic at the airport, bringing the number of international boarding gates to five.
The construction of the gates was the result of partnerships with stakeholders that the Ghana Airports Company (GACL) has embarked on to enhance and upgrade facilities at KIA. The partnerships involved the GACL and Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines.
The two airlines pre-financed the construction of the gates, which features SkyTeam branding and has a capacity to hold about 170 people and would have primary use of the facilities.
Mrs. Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of GACL, speaking at a ceremony to mark the official opening of the new gates, thanked Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines for partnering with the GACL to improve services at the airport.
She said the pressure on the existing gates, caused by most of the international airlines having to take-off from KIA at almost the same time, would be eased with the new gates adding that the GACL was working to construct two additional gates to serve the four new airlines that were expected to start operations by the end of 2011.
“The pre-financing of a 3rd and 4th boarding gates by Delta and Air France-KLM is an indication of GACL’s willingness to partner other stakeholders to help achieve our vision of making KIA the hub and gateway of the West African sub-region.”
Mrs. Owusu-Fianko called on other airlines and stakeholders to emulate the example of Air France-KLM and Delta by partnering GACL to upgrade facilities at KIA.
She also announced that an Airline House would be constructed to house offices of all the airlines operating at KIA. The project would be started as soon as funds are available.
Mr. Gerard Duijfjes, Dutch Ambassador to Ghana, who opened the gates, said traffic at the airport was better due to the improvements in granting of visas, tourism and other factors. This therefore called for improvement in the facilities and commended the cooperation between GACL, Air France-KLM and Delta in constructing the new gates.
Mr. Jack Urlus, Air France-KLM Regional Manager, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, said the airline decided to support the construction of the new gates because it wanted to offer the best services to its customers by creating more space for them when boarding.
“KLM is proud to have partnered with GACL and Delta Air Lines to offer improved service to our passengers. This dedicated gate will aid in the smooth processing of its passengers and reduce the boarding waiting time” he added.
Mr. Robert Bryan, Delta Airline Sales Director, East & West Africa, said the new departure gates at the airport highlighted Delta’s ongoing commitment to Ghana with improved airport facilities for its customers.
He said this would help to boost travel and tourism between Ghana and United States.
He stated that Delta was poised for the competition that would be offered by the new airlines that would start operations at KIA. “We have a superior service, competition is good,” he said.
The new departure gates are situated just past the immigration desks with more than 130 seats, as well as television information screens.
For Delta, this forms part of a $2 billion investment in enhanced airport facilities and global products and services, including new international terminals at New York-JFK and Atlanta airports.
Delta operates a four times weekly service from Accra to New York using a 216-seat Boeing 767-300er aircraft, which became an overnight service from June 1 and offers a thrice weekly service between Accra and Atlanta.
Air France-KLM has a Boeing 777-200 daily operation, accommodating 35 world business class and 283 tourist passengers from Accra to Amsterdam.
Air France and KLM operate independently from their respective hubs in Paris and Amsterdam, but are working closely to coordinate their operations, both as sister companies and as members of the SkyTeam alliance.