Scores of domestic airline passengers are stranded at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
This comes as workers of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) embarked on a strike over the encroachment and the illegal sale of aviation lands.
The passengers, due to the hiccup at the airport, complained about the inconveniences they endured in trying to get to their various destinations.
According to JoyNews’ Maxwell Agbagba, the airport’s tarmac is now congested because numerous passengers whose flights have been cancelled have been left in limbo.
A message he received from a stranded passenger stated: “Africaworld must learn to treat Ghanaians with some dignity and respect. Why keep passengers onboard a stationary aircraft (with facemasks) when you are well aware staff of Ghana Airport Company are on strike and will not allow domestic flights?”
However, Africa World Airline in response has assured its customers that it will resume domestic operations from Thursday, October 15, after the disruption at the airport yesterday.
“Due to traffic control issues which delayed flights beyond opposing odds of Kumasi and Tamale airport, unfortunately, we had to cancel two flights; one to Kumasi and another to Tamale today. At this time we are planning to operate all our flights normally tomorrow”.
In an interview on JoyBusiness, the Chief Operating Officer of Africa World Airlines, Sean Mendis, said his outfit had not been officially informed about GCAA’s industrial action.
On Tuesday, the staff of GCAA alleged that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Lands Commission, the Aviation Ministry are involved in the illegal sale of aviation lands to private and real estate developers.
They asked for key personalities like the immediate past Minister for Aviation, Cecilia Dapaah, Aviation Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda and Lands Minister Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh to be held responsible for any air-related accident or serious incident that might occur within Ghana’s airspace.
According to the workers, since October 2, 2020, some flights have been experiencing occasional interruptions in communication with the air traffic control due to the constant interferences and heavy background noise on some of the frequencies.
They attributed these challenges to the activities of real estate developers around their communication systems, navigational aids and surveillance systems on GCAA lands.
