…attributed to hike in airfares, parliamentary report
There was a decrease in domestic aircraft movements from 16,297 in September 2022 to 13,096 in September 2023, a parliamentary report has revealed.
According to the report of the Committee on Roads and Transport on the 2024 Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Transport, the decline might be linked to frequent and high increases in airfares by local airlines.
The committee recommended that the ministry engages airline operators to address this concern.
Data from the Ghana Airports Company Limited showed that domestic passenger flows hit 438,739 in the first half of 2022.
The data indicated that total throughput jumped from 423,718 in 2020 to 722,721 in 2021 the highest since 2013. This represents a 70.57percent surge in domestic passenger traffic over that of the previous year.
There was a halt in domestic air operations in Ghana between March 30 and April 20,2020 as part of measures by the government to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
The domestic space is dominated by Africa World Airlines(AWA) and Passion Air.
Their flight route is from Accra to the five regions with airports -Northern (Tamale),Ashanti (Kumasi),Western (Takoradi),Bono (Sunyani) and Upper West (Wa).
Ghc800m approved for transport
Meanwhile, lawmakers approved Ghc800,032,705.00 for the Transport Ministry for the 2024 fiscal year as budgetary allocation.
Of the allocation 108m will go into employee compensation, 256m into goods and services as well as 435m into capital expenditure.
The committee observed that the ministry encountered difficulties in accessing funds due to the dependence on donor funds and the on-going economic debt restructuring programme causing a standstill in the implementation of various projects.
The committee recommended that the ministry explore alternative sources of generating funds internally to lessen the heavy reliance on donor funds and enhance overall operational efficiency.
The report also noted that the main pick-up and drop-off point for terminals at the Kotoka International Airport experience congestion during peak times. The committee therefore urged the ministry to consider building a multi-storey parking lot at the Kotoka International Airport to ease congestion at the airport, particularly during weekends.
By Eugene Davis
