"Air Burkinabe" resumes flight operations to Ghana

Accra, (Greater Accra) 26 Feb. '99,

The Burkinabe National Airline, "Air Burkinabe", today resumed flight operations to Ghana after a decade's absence. The airline will operate two flights a week to Ghana which is its first and only anglophone destination. A Forker 28 airbus belonging to the airline today touched down at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to climax an inaugural ceremony which was witnessed by government officials, traditional rulers and their Burkinabe counterparts. Mr Mike Hammah, Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport, said government, in realising the important role aviation plays in national development, liberalised the skies to enhance its quest to make KIA an aviation hub of West Africa. He said the resumption of the Burkinabe air services is coming at a time that the government of Ghana is pursuing its gateway programme. The strategy is aimed at using Ghana as fertile ground to attract investments in industry, trade and tourism into the sub-region. Mr Hammah said there already exists cordial bilateral co-operation between the two countries in the areas of trade and, especially shipping, as Burkina Faso as a landlocked country using Ghana's corridors for its transit cargo. He said without regional and sub-regional co-operation, efforts at expanding African markets, making it survive the competition imposed by modern global trends, will be fruitless. Mr Cyrille Goungounke, the Burkinabe Parliamentary Minister, who led his country's delegation, said the resumption of "Air Burkinabe" to Ghana will stimulate sub-regional integration. He was optimistic that the air services will facilitate trade between the two countries and serve well the needs of the business community.