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Business News of Thursday, 17 April 2003

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Golden Age of Business?

... As Ministry Frustrates Sobel Air
Sobel Air, a Ghanaian private owned airline is undergoing some frustrations in attempts to operate along the West Coast of the sub-region. The airline applied to the Ministry of Transport in May last year to enter into both domestic and international air transport.

It was granted an initial six-month domestic operation license after which it would have been granted a license to ply the West Coast routes. The Director of Operations of Sobel Air, Captain Victor Opoku says the company complied with the probationary requirement and even went beyond the stipulated six months to operate for ten months.

After satisfying the six months condition, the management of the company impressed upon the ministry for the grant of the license to ply the West Coast, but to date the ministry of transport has not responded. Captain Opoku told Joy FM that the company is still awaiting a response from the ministry, but if the response tarries beyond the patience of management, the company may be forced to obtain a license from Togo and operate from there.

Currently, two of the three planes of Sobel Air have been leased out to a Gabonese airline, La Nationale. Sobel Air has since March this year suspended its domestic operations.