• British Airways rescinds decision to move Accra flights to Gatwick airport
•This came as a result of huge opposition from the Ghana government
• Passengers on the Accra – London route will land at Heathrow Airport
British Airways has bowed to pressure from the government of Ghana and rowed back on a plan to switch Accra flights from Heathrow to Gatwick.
Speaking to Citi Business News, the Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Eric Mireku Amaning, said Accra will continue to operate from the London Heathrow Airport from the IATA Winter 2021 Season.
This means passengers on the Accra-London route will land at Heathrow Airport instead of Gatwick Airport.
“Finally, the British Airways last week wrote to the Minister [of Transport] informing him that they have reconsidered their decision to move Accra flights to Gatwick. So our final destination will be Heathrow Airport and not Gatwick. So I think that the Minister of Transport did a yeoman’s job, and we need to commend him for that,” Eric Mireku Amaning added in an interview with Citi Business News.
“We’ve received great assurances from British Airways that we are not going to face this situation again and that Heathrow will continue to be our final destination if we’re travelling from Accra to London,” he added.
British Airways announced moving Ghana operations from the London Heathrow Airport to London Gatwick Airport.
When BA revealed its intention to shift the route from its main London hub to the Gatwick airport, Ghana’s Ministry of Aviation called the decision “unacceptable”. It threatened to reciprocate by forcing the airline to use an airport 100 miles from Accra.
Like Heathrow, Accra’s Kotoka International Airport was a Second World War RAF base that became a civilian facility in 1946.
Virgin Atlantic shared the Heathrow-Accra route with BA until 2013 when it pulled out blaming “exceptionally high fuel costs” at the West African airport.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
