Air traffic in the post COVID-19 era in Ghana has started picking up gradually. That’s according to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yofi Grant.
The volume of air traffic and its attendant effects on foreign direct investments and international commercial activity is expected to boost the Ghanaian economy.
This comes at a time when United Airlines has re-launched its operations in and out of Ghana.
United Airline’s 787 Dreamline landed at the Kotoka International Airport on Saturday, May 15, at about 8:05 am.
The carrier is now operating a thrice-weekly service to Accra from the United States, Washington DC.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sullivan, believes the recommencement of flights by the airlines proves people’s increasing demand for physical travels now that things appear to be getting back to normal.
She spoke to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the return of United Airlines to Ghana.
“I think as people feel more comfortable travelling, as more people receive the vaccination, people are beginning to get sick of being online on a two-dimensional flat screen. There’s a lot of pent-up demand for vacation travel. And so I think that we’re poised to see a lot more interest in Americans coming into Ghana.”
“Right after the year of return in 2019, there was a tremendous amount of momentum [for tourism] but then the pandemic struck. So I think we can expect to see that pickup. And then also, the constant interest in Ghanaians to travel to the United States will resume as people feel comfortable travelling,” she explained.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yofi Grant, confirmed this.
According to him, air traffic is beginning to pick up.
He said, “Travelling traffic is not back to where it was pre-COVID times. With the pandemic still in effect, people are conscious about travelling. You have to go through a whole rigmarole of protocols to be able to travel and come back safely. And so it’s not yet there. But well, as life and history have shown right now, tthere are not as many flights or not as many people travelling. But we believe that it will get somewhere where we will go beyond what it was pre-COVID.”
