Ghana Airways acquires new planes

Accra,(Greater Accra), 25th September 99 - Ghana Airways Company will at the end of this year parade six aircraft made of three DC-9s and three DC-10s to help the airline cope with its growing passenger population.

Two DC-10s, one of which is expected in the country by the end of the month and the other in December are the latest to add to its fleet, the largest since 1970.

A statement issued in Accra today said the management of the airline having considered the increase in patronage, is confident that the acquisition of the aircraft will improve its route expansion programme to the Middle East and the United States while at the same time improve on reliability and punctuality.

According to the statement the airline carried 270,000 passengers in 1998 having recorded a modest number of 192,000 passengers in 1997.

Ghana Airways increased its capacity on the European and American routes from five to six and from three to four flights per week to London and New York respectively to make up for the large growth in patronage.

It said the airline made a total passenger uplift of 97,506 from May 15 to August 15 this year, as compared to 92,000 for the same period last year.

" A few lapses arising from excessive booking of flights by some staff and travel agents were observed but the situation has now been resolved "