Aviation: Ghana issues travel advisory on COVID-19, as Africa World Airlines implement measures to aid passengers

As the surge of the coronavirus keeps spreading, the Government of Ghana has issues a travel advisory strongly discouraging all travels to the country.

In a statement by the government, it said Ghana Immigration Service, at their discretion, may refuse entry to passengers, whose travels are deemed to be for conferences, funerals or any form of public gathering, adding that the restriction applies to those who hold valid visas or visa-on-arrival approval as well.

The statement stated that passengers who have been present in any country that has recorded 200 or more cases of COVID-19 during the last 14 days are PROHIBITED from entering Ghana.

“As per directive from Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, airlines are required to question passengers regarding their travel history and to deny boarding to passengers who fall into this category. Citizens and Residents of Ghana (with valid residence permits) are exempt from this prohibition, but will be subject to 14 days of quarantine (conditions at the discretion of the Port Health authorities) upon arrival in Ghana. Any admissible passenger who displays symptoms of COVID-19 will be quarantined and tested upon arrival in Ghana.”

Similarly, Ghana’s leading carrier, Africa World Airlines, AWA, said it has taken to cater for its teeming passengers during these periods.

The airline said it is revising its flight operations to ensure that adequate level of service is maintained for essential travel.

AWA said: “In view of this travel advisory, Africa World Airlines has revised our flight schedules to ensure that an adequate level of service is maintained for those who have essential travel needs in all our markets.

“As the largest operator of flights to, from and within Ghana, we realise that we have a special responsibility to maintain connectivity between the communities we serve. This new schedule goes into effect from 18MAR20 and passengers whose itineraries are affected by schedule changes will be automatically rebooked on the nearest available flight.

At this time, AWA will continue to operate the following services :
Accra to Kumasi vv : 41 weekly flights each way
Accra to Tamale vv : 28 weekly flights each way
Accra to Takoradi vv : 14 weekly flights each way
Accra to Wa (via Tamale) vv : 3 weekly flights each way
Accra to Lagos vv : 16 weekly flights each way
Accra to Abuja vv : 4 weekly flights each way
Accra to Freetown vv : 4 weekly flights each way
Accra to Monrovia vv : 4 weekly flights each way
Accra to Abidjan vv : 3 weekly flights each way
Freetown to Monrovia vv : 2 weekly flights each way

“In consultation with the Government of Ghana, we have also implemented additional protocols to ensure the wellbeing of all our passengers, staff and crew.

• We are extending our waiver of change fees to ALL domestic and international flights until 10MAY20. If you are booked on any AWA flight during this period, you can be assured that you can change your plans to a future date with no penalty applied.
• We are eliminating all crew layovers in foreign countries, to minimise risk of crew exposure in hotels and other public areas.
• We have implemented a further enhanced cleaning regimen of our aircraft cabins to ensure that we minimise the risk of transmission through cross-contamination

“We pledge to do everything we can to help in these challenging circumstances, and look forward to welcoming you to “Fly safe, fly confident!” on your next flight with us.”