Ghana: Airline firms up Accra to Toronto/ Montreal direct flights

Africa’s largest carrier says it is ready to start flying from Ghana’s capital Accra to the Canadian cities of Toronto and/or Montreal. Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mesfin Tasew Bekele, told AviationGhana that the airline will start servicing the Accra-Montreal and/or AccraToronto route “immediately” after the Canadian Civil Aviation Authority approves their request.

“We have submitted our request and the authorities in Canada, and they have promised that they are working on it and they will approve it. As immediately as it is approved, we will connect particularly Accra with either Toronto or Montreal in Canada,” Mr. Bekele told AviationGhana in an interview in Addis Ababa. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, the aviation sector regulator, has granted Ethiopian Airlines a Fifth Freedom right to operate direct flights between Ghana and Canada.

The approval, seen by AviationGhana, follows an official request made by the Addis Ababa airline for permission to operate direct flights between the two countries.

Fifth Freedom Rights refer to the right to carry passengers from one’s own country to a second country and from that country onward to a third country.

Some international airlines that service the Kotoka International Airport Exercise Fifth Freedom, as granted by the Ghana CAA, and operate flights from Accra to other third countries within the sub-region such as Abidjan, Freetown, and Dakar.

There are no flights between West Africa and Canada despite the increasing traffic between the sub-region and the North American country, a gap Mr. Bekele says they are ready to fill.

“I am very grateful to the government of Ghana because we have got a permit to fly from Ghana to the United States and Canada. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. Ethiopia Airlines would be extremely pleased to connect West Africa to Canada.” Ghana: Airline firms up Accra to Toronto/Montreal direct flights