The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has adopted Ghana’s aviation health and safety standards amid COVID-19 for use in other countries, the Minister for Aviation, Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda has said.
Speaking at a press briefing to address media reports on the purported LCB contract and disinfection of Airports, the Minister said, “…IATA has commended Ghana’s Aviation Sector for these effective measures and successful operations. In fact, IATA has since adopted Ghana’s standards for use in other countries.”
“Of the African countries which closed down domestic flights due to Covid-l9, Ghana is the first to restart operations. This again attests to Ghana’s leadership and successes in the aviation sector within the African continent,” Mr. Adda stated.
Last year, Ghana was awarded two International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council President certificates for maintaining among the highest aviation safety and security standards globally.
The safety award was in recognition of Ghana obtaining Africa’s highest score in Aviation Safety Oversight after scoring a provisional Effective Implementation (EI) rate of 89.89 percent.
This places Ghana at the top spot in Africa in terms of safety oversight, considering that the average EI rate on the continent stands at 52 percent, which is lower than the global average of 66.5 percent and below ICAO’s current minimum target of 60 percent
The Minister said, “The safety and security have always been our priority and it is a result of our excellent performance on these that we ranked the highest in Africa in 2019.”
Mr. Adda further reiterated the point that, LCB has no contract with either Ministry or Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) to undertake any form of disinfection or installation of any types of gadgets, as the Governing Board of GACL has not approved such a contract for LCB.
Operations after COVID-19 Lockdown
Following Government’s lifting of a lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-l9, the Minister said it became necessary to prepare the airports to commence domestic flights, after domestic airlines expressed their readiness to begin operations.
“In effect, an alternative means was sought, using laid down government policy and due process to engage a company with the requisite capacity to carry out this rapid exercise. This was due to the fact that there had been a two-week delay in the resumption of domestic operations after Government lifted the lockdown,” he explained.
Currently, domestic flights have resumed operations and all Covid-19 protocols are being observed.
