In what was the strongest statement of intent since their establishment in Ghana, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Starbow, James Eric Antwi assured the public of the airline company’s continued relevance in the transport industry.
“We are here to stay. Starbow is so much interested in offering services to the whole country and we are going to open up more avenues for the country,” he said.
He made the comments after the company resumed flights to the Northern Regional capital, Tamale on Sunday, the first since October, 2014.
Mr. Antwi also stated the company’s commitment to expanding its operations to include flights from Tamale to Kumasi which he said would be at the convenience of people operating businesses between the two regions and also to Takoradi in the near future.
“We [used] to operate from Accra to Kumasi and back to Accra. This time around we are going to operate from Accra to Tamale; from Accra to Kumasi and then to Tamale and from Tamale back to Kumasi and then from Kumasi to Accra. This also gives the opportunity for people who are doing businesses in Kumasi and Tamale to move between the two cities.”
“We also later on want to operate from Accra to Takoradi and then to Kumasi. Next time we will operate from Accra to Takoradi and then to Tamale. This is all on the drawing board and we are looking at it and we are going to do it. And in doing so we are going to improve the economy of the country so that businessman can do our work without any hindrance, we can move around freely,” he added.
Starbow’s Bombadier Q400 NextGen planes are a picture of elegance and class giving patrons a feeling of comfort even before they board
However, aside from the sleek look, a high level of efficiency of the aircrafts was also proritised by the company.
“This aircraft is efficient, economically wise because the fuel consumption is very low also we can manage to go round the country, Mr. Antwi explained.
The Starbow CEO also spoke of a need to extend their operations into other parts of the sub-region, in order to achieve their business aims and confirmed that plans were in place to commence flights to other West African countries once local situation had been stabilized.
“We need expand our operations, we need to use this sector because when they are parked they cost money. Aircraft have to be in the air all the time to make up your money. So we are going to look outside. We have actually got approval to fly into 7 West African regional countries. We already have Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau we are prepared to go there as well as Burkina Faso, we are going to plan to do that. But before then we have to sort the domestic operations before we can move out.”
Mr. James Eric Antwi reiterated the company’s commitment to ensuring more reliability in their operations with the procurement of a new aircraft in July to augment the efforts of the current two.
“This time round Starbow is ready to offer the services and we are appealing to the passengers that we are going to do a more reliable flight. When you have more aircraft and technical problems, you don’t have to wait until the next day to operate. when we have technical problems, which happens to everyone, we will bring another aircraft to do the service. We will not wait for too long.” Mr.Antwi said.
A slight delay before take off of the historic flight, was rendered insignificant by the speed of the craft and the relative comfort inside it. Some passengers shared their thoughts with citifmonline.com after the flight.
“It was a great flight, I loved the service. I am definitely coming back, one passenger said.
Another elated passenger described the flight the “best I have ever been on. the pilot was very good. One of the best i have had.
Based on these early signs, this year promises to be a great one for Starbow as the company prepares to take the air transport industry in Ghana by the scruff of the neck.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EdKwakofi