Ghana’s Starbow plans international routes – Report
Ghana’s Starbow is preparing to launch in July 2012 short-haul international services, the company has indicated.
The domestic airline plans to use its existing fleet of BAe 146s to start the international routes and later add medium-haul flights after it takes delivery of A319s or Boeing 737-700s, aviation market intelligence Centre for Aviation (CAPA) has reported.
Starbow co-CEO Brock Friesen told the CAPA on the sidelines of the just-ended 2012 International Air Transport Association (IATA’s) Annual General Meeting in Beijing that Cotonou in Benin and Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire will be the carrier’s first international services and are expected to be launched in July 2012.
According to the June 7, 2012 publication, Dr Friesen says Starbow aims to serve both routes with two daily flights, allowing business travellers the ability to fly out and back on the same day.
The exact launch date is yet to be known but the company has indicated it is waiting to first switch to a new reservation system.
Dr Friesen explained to the CAPA that Starbow launched with a homemade reservation system that has worked well domestically but the carrier will be transitioning to a system from an outside supplier to support international services, including ticket sales through the Amadeus platform.
Starbow launched its services in Ghana in September 2011 and currently operates three domestic routes connecting Accra with Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale.
By Ekow Quandzie