GHANA: Starbow Airlines

Aero Surveys Limited, which trades as Starbow, is a Ghanaian privately owned airline headquartered in Osu, Accra, Ghana. Starbow claims to be the largest Ghanaian airline measured by passengers carried; Despite a brief regional expansion, the airline now only operates domestic flights, from its base at Kotoka International Airport, Accra.

The company was originally incorporated in October 1997 as Aero Surveys Limited and later rebranded its activities as Air Shuttle. It operated two Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft for domestic charters and air taxi services, gaining its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), in August 2009.

In 2011, the ownership of the airline changed, which resulted in a further rebranding to a new commercial name, Starbow, with regional flights in mind. A communication and recruitment campaign was launched and two 94 seat BAe 146-300 jet aircraft were acquired for scheduled domestic passenger services.

Starbow began domestic flights out of Kotoka International Airport on 26 September 2011, serving Kumasi and Tamale. The aircraft offered both business and economy class seating. Starbow added its 3rd destination on 8 November 2011, with return flights to Takoradi from its Accra base.

On 3 February 2012, after just 5 months in operation, Starbow announced that they had finalised a deal to lease two additional BAe 146-300 aircraft that would double their fleet size to 4 aircraft. The aircraft entered into service less than 6 months later.

Starbow's first international route was announced on 31 July 2012. The up to 5 times weekly service from Accra to Cotonou in Benin started 13 August 2012.Abidjan in the Ivory Coast became the carrier's second international destination. The route launched on 8 November 2012 with flights operating up to 5 times weekly from Accra. Starbow also expressed ambitions for further regional routes to be provided.

Starbow announced on 16 December 2012 that they were adding a 97-seat BAe 146-200 to their fleet.

However, in early 2013 all international services were suspended due to poor performance. In November 2013, press reports said that Starbow were to go ahead with fleet renewal plans following the recent appointment of an agent to dispose of the current fleet of two BAe 146-300s and one BAe 146-200, with the third BAe 146-300 being sold for parts. Collectively, the aircraft average 25 years of age. Starbow was reportedly still considering its options for potential replacement aircraft.

Also in November 2013, Starbow's CEO James Eric Antwi said they would move their business out of Ghana if the Government does not address the concerns of domestic airlines, citing small market size and low fares as some of their concerns, and saying that Starbow could relocate their business to other countries such as the Ivory Coast.

Starbow currently operates to and from the following destinations:

Ghana
*Accra - Kotoka International Airport Hub
*Kumasi - Kumasi Airport
*Takoradi - Takoradi Airport
*Tamale - Tamale Airport

Starbow also operates charter services from its Accra base to other cities in the sub-region.

GHANA: Passengers Stranded As Domestic Airlines Cancel Flights Due To Harmattan

Some Domestic airlines on Thursday cancelled flights from Accra to Kumasi and the Northern regional Capital, Tamale over the prevailing harmattan which is causing poor visibility.

The unfortunate development left some passengers stranded at the various airports across the country.

The development has also taken a toll on the operations of the airline companies.

Chief Executive Officer of Starbow, James Antwi in an interview said the flights had to be cancelled to ensure the safety of all passengers.

“The whole of today we haven’t had any flight to Tamale because of the visibility situation, the visibility is very low so it’s not safe for our operations,” Mr. Antwi said.

GHANA: Unable To Fly, Domestic Airlines Refund Money To Passengers

Domestic airlines in the country are refunding money paid for tickets bought by prospective travellers because they are unable to fly due to the hazy harmattan weather.

Africa World Airline (AWA), one of the domestic airline operators, has so far refunded money to about 250 passengers who purchased tickets earlier.

This follows the inability of the airline to continue its operations as a result of poor visibility.

Meteorological Department has forecast severe harmattan weather till December 13, 2015.

The Chief Operations Officer of AWA, Mr Samuel Thompson, said in situations where flights were cancelled through no fault of the passenger or the airline, the passenger was either put on another flight or the money was refunded.

According to him, visibility required by airlines to fly safely to Tamale is 3,000 metres, while that of Kumasi is 1,600 metres and Accra is 800 metres.

“Now, since Wednesday, because of the harmattan, the visibility has dropped drastically. From Thursday to now, the visibility in Tamale was hovering around 1,000 metres. This is way below the minimum requirement,” he expanded.

Mr Thompson further said that since Thursday, the visibility in Kumasi had hovered between 200 and 1,000 metres, adding that as a safety precaution, when the visibility was low, the airlines were mandated to cancel flights.

Mr Thompson was worried that the situation was adversely affecting business, “because when the aircraft is grounded like this, we lose money.”

He was hopeful that the weather would normalise for business to resume, explaining that apart from the company losing money, the situation was also affecting the business activities of passengers.

He said this year’s harmattan weather had been serious because in the previous years, they had only had to cancel one or two flights a day and not all flights.

SOUTH AFRICA: South African Airways Determined To Expand In Africa

SAA's acting CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout

While international airlines battle for the world’s most competitive routes in the highest traffic markets, South African Airways (SAA) is shoring up supremacy in Africa.

SAA has an 80-year history of operations and has established itself as the pre-eminent carrier for southern Africa. With its home base in Johannesburg, it is one of few airlines that can and does fly direct from the U.S. to Africa. SAA's Johannesburg hub positions it well to service points throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The airline is working to solidify its position against competitors that may also be eyeing the African air travel markets.

Speaking at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Miami, Nico Bezuidenhout, SAA’s acting chief executive, said the airline is determined to expand its presence to more destinations in Africa.

Bezuidenhout revealed the airline’s heady expectations.

“Our goal is to increase our revenue in the region by 30 percent in the next twelve months," he said. “Africa is a huge potential market for aviation and as Africa’s legacy airline, we want to see the continent contribute to more than the current 3 percent of global aviation.”

Staking out increased presence in West Africa, SAA recently launched new service between Accra, Ghana and Washington D.C. beginning Aug. 3. SAA claims to be offering the only nonstop flight between Ghana and D.C., and the only Skytrax four-star rated airline service from West Africa to North America.

Through a recently cemented bi-lateral codeshare agreement with Africa World Airlines, SAA can now offer connections through Accra to other destinations in Ghana, including Kumasi, Takoradi, and Tamale, and to Lagos, Nigeria.

Bezuidenhout also said the airline has completed its 90-Day Action Plan, which has resulted in significant reductions in costs, better positioning the airline for expansion within Africa.

“In the first quarter of 2015, a lot of efforts went into stabilizing our airline and we achieved significant milestones. We now want to grow our capabilities and better connect South Africa to the rest of the continent,” said Bezuidenhout.