Responding to passenger complaints, Ghana intends to ban commercial aircraft older than 20 years from using its airspace, according to Charles Kraikue, general director of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
In an interview with Ghana's Daily Graphic newspaper, he said the GCAA was currently in discussions with stakeholders and plans to issue a new directive in this regard soon, joining Nigeria, Uganda, Thailand, Bolivia, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Turkey in imposing age ceilings for commercial aircraft.
"Following persistent complaints from passengers, we will soon bring out a new directive that will stop airlines from using over-age aircraft in the country's airspace," he explained. "Under the new regime, the proposed ceiling for commercial aircraft to be deployed to Accra is 20 years. This is part of a bundle of measures designed to ensure that aircraft on the Accra route are fit for purpose," he said.
Kraikue acknowledged that age limits had little direct impact on the airworthiness of an aircraft, but persistent consumer complaints had made it necessary for the authority to impose age restrictions on commercial carriers.
"If the proper maintenance procedures are followed, chronological age is not a limitation, but the directive has become necessary due to recent periodic complaints and dissatisfaction from passengers," he said.
This followed Ghana's August 19 ban of a nearly 25-year-old Delta Air Lines B767-300ER, N195DN (msn 28452), from serving Accra following a string of technical issues. According to Flightradar24 ADS-B data, N195DN had to return to New York JFK while flying to Accra on July 25, reportedly due to a fuel imbalance. The same aircraft also had a mechanical issue before departure from Accra on August 1, forcing the airline to cancel the flight back to JFK. The B767 suffered mechanical issues again on August 13 before departure from JFK for Accra.
Turning to the local market, according to the ch-aviation fleets module, should the new rules be enforced in the near future, PassionAir (OP, Accra) would be especially affected given its three Dash 8-300s are all over 30 years of age while one Dash 8-400 - 9G-DIA (msn 4052) - is 21 years of age. Air Ghana (GO, Accra) also operates a single B737-400(F) which is 30 years old.
