Emirates, the award-winning airline has celebrated a milestone in its operation to Ghana, marking 15 years of service to Accra. The first Emirates flight flew into Kotoka International Airport in January 2004, and the airline has since carried close to 1.6 million passengers between Accra and Dubai and its network.
The airline started operations in Ghana with three flights a week, increasing to six flights a week in March 2005. Currently, the airline operates daily Abidjan – Accra – Dubai flights to over 150 destinations via its Dubai hub. This is set to increase to 11 weekly flights from 2nd June, 2019 following the announcement of four additional weekly flights to Accra.
For over a decade and a half, Emirates has stayed committed to not only connecting Ghanaians to the world, but also developing Ghana’s aviation industry. October 2018 saw Emirates operate the country’s first A380 to Accra, partnering with the airport to test its operations and infrastructure to accommodate an A380 service.
“Africa is one of Emirates’ key growth regions in its global network and Ghana is an important market for Emirates. In 2018, Emirates carried over 180,000 passengers between Accra and Dubai, and we are committed to facilitating trade, tourism and cargo exports in the years to come”, says Cathy Wesley, Emirates Country Manager.
Top Emirates destinations that Ghanaians travel to include UAE, China, USA, Singapore, India and London.
Emirates SkyCargo also remains a key enabler in facilitating global trade in Ghana by carrying a total of over 73,000 tonnes of cargo to and from Ghana. Emirates SkyCargo has also faciliated the export of over 41,000 tonnes of cargo majority of them being fruits and precious metals.
On the Accra – Dubai route, Emirates operates the B777-300ER aircraft which is one of the most technologically advanced and efficient aircrafts in the world.
Commenting on the milestone, Sylvia Baah, Emirates Airport Service Manager who has worked with Emirates since 2004 cited the one-off A380 service to Accra in 2018 as one of the memorable moments in her career at Emirates. She added that, “the past 15 years have been fulfilling, rewarding and exciting. I feel very proud to be a part of this amazing journey with Emirates, and to know that we are part of a larger team that brings the vision of a ‘better’ travel experience, to life, for Ghanaians.”
