Asamoah Gyan
Baby Jet Airlines will commence commercial operations by the end of this year to boost competition in the aviation industry, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has said.
Recently, it announced the start of another domestic airline.
The aviation authorities are also upbeat about the situation due to the intense competition and varied options they will offer passengers to choose from.
The Director-General of the GCAA, Simon Allotey, explained that operators of Baby Jet Airlines are currently at the third stage, which is expected to result in the provision of an Air Operator Certificate.
This means that the airline company has passed through the first and second stages involving the pre-application to obtain an Air Carrier Licence.
The current stage involves the submission and evaluation of the necessary business operating documents by the regulator.
“We’re also working very seriously on the certification process. They are around stage three, which is the document evaluation stage. They intend bringing in an aircraft soon as they get to stage four,” he stated.
Effective cooperation from the potential airline company and the GCAA should take six months for the certification process to be completed.
Already, another local airline, Unity Air, has taken delivery of its aircraft awaiting inspection from the GCAA and demonstration of ability to fly passengers.
Currently, Africa World Airlines is the only airline company operating in the domestic aviation market Ghana.
The GCAA boss is hopeful of intense competition soon.
“It will certainly help a lot. First, it will bring competition. The competition will lead to efficiency and good provision of services. Secondly, it will help a lot; currently AWA is to cope with passengers, who want to travel from Tamale and Kumasi to Accra. AWA is also thinking of introducing services to Wa Airport and they’re really stretched.”
Reports, however, suggest that Baby Jet airlines is recruiting staff for the company.
The company is yet to corroborate the publications on social media.
But the regulator maintains it will be out of place for any company to advertise its flying routes unless it has completed the necessary process for certification.
– Citifmonline