GIA forced to cancel flights at peak season

Ghana International Airlines(GIA), it seems, is flying precariously close to the clouds of receivership.

The airline, which has daily scheduled flights to London Gatwick, has been forced to cancel 14 flights even as we enter the peak season of aviation travel. An internal memo sourced by The Statesman, entitled ?GIA Flight Schedule modifications,? read:

?Please note the following flight schedule modifications.

The following GIA services will not operate. G0 101 of 24 May (Wed), 28 May (Sun), 01 Jun (Thu), 04 Jun (Sun), 07 Jun (Wed), 11 Jun (Sun), and 13 Jun (Tue), G0 100 of 25 May (Thu), 29 May (Mon), 01 Jun (Thu), 05 Jun (Mon), 08 Jun (Thu), 12 Jun (Mon) and 14 Jun (Wed). Aircraft will overnight in ACC on 24 May, 28 May, 04 Jun, 07 Jun, 11 Jun and 13 Jun. Aircraft will overnight in LGW on 01 Jun.

?All passengers currently booked on these services will be contacted by GIA and notified of the schedule changes,? the internal memo ended.

Although the memo fell short of giving a reason for these cancellations, sources at GIA told The Statesman that because of the low passenger numbers booked to fly within that period it was not economical to fly on those dates. The number of passengers booked to travel on this week?s May 11 flight from London Gatwick to Accra was 33, whilst for the return flight from Accra to London the number falls to 30.

A week later on May 18, 64 passengers are booked to leave Accra and 43 from London ? for an aircraft with a capacity of 210.

The average number of passenger flights from Accra to London from May 9 to May 31 was 43. However, on 13 of the 23 days the total number of passengers was actually lower than this ? the average pushed up by several comparatively ?full? flights, such as May 13 when 94 passengers are booked to fly.

For the return flights from London, the numbers are even more concerning, with an average of 29 passengers on each flight. On six of these days, the flight did not even achieve 10 percent capacity.

Bookings on the Accra-London flight for the month of June currently stand at 233 ? just over full capacity for a single flight, with passengers perhaps holding back on reserving seats with an airline with such an uncertain future. Just 187 passengers have so far booked flights from London Gatwick back to Accra.

In addition to falling passenger numbers, another reason assigned by insiders had to do with money. The airline is already strapped for cash with another round of operational bills like the wet lease, the reservations system and fuel bills due at the end of the month.

Even the non-experts in the travel industry could predict that the management of the airline was walking into quicksand when the recently appointed take-over management team felt it necessary to hack off parts of the airline. The marketing department headed by Mawuko Afadzinu was one of the first to go. The banks are shying away, with all the negative publicity and revelations, which ultimately puts off the core aspect of the business ? passengers.

Other parties such as Ethiopian Airlines ? which was close to an agreement with GIA ? have little option but to find the partnership perilous.

It may require more than a miracle to keep GIA in the skies. Gloria Akuffo may not have a national airline to boast off even before she settles in her new seat as Aviation Minister.

GIA may be saved. It would take some doing, though.