Ethiopian Airlines, the biggest airline in Africa, says it is prepared to run direct flights from Accra, Ghana to Toronto and Montreal if Ghanaian authorities grant them the Fifth Freedom Right.
The right to transport people from one's own country to a second country and from that country to a third country is referred to as the Fifth Freedom Right. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, which oversees the aviation industry in Ghana, has granted select multinational airlines with bases in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East the right to operate flights from Accra to a third country in the sub-region.
According to Mr. Lemma Yadecha Gudeta, Chief Commercial Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, "Certainly, we are interested in a 5th Freedom Right [from Ghana to Canada].
According to AviationGhana's research of visa requests made through VFS for 2022, Canada is the most popular travel destination for Ghanaians. The visa intermediary reports that there are still a lot of Canadians applying for visas in other West African nations. Yet there isn't a direct flight connecting West Africa with Canada.
On September 28, 2023, Mr. Lemma Yadecha Gudeta said Ethiopian Airlines is prepared to run direct flights from Accra, Ghana, to Canadian towns provided the necessary licences are granted by Ghanaian authorities. He was speaking to the media during a working visit to Accra, the capital of Ghana.
Five times per week, we travel to Toronto, the capital of Canada. We are currently unable to meet the huge demand from the eastern half of Africa and its vicinity. In February, I travelled to Montreal to negotiate with local stakeholders in order to obtain items one through four: more flights to Toronto, at the very least, a daily trip to Toronto.
I advised to the authorities there that you operate through West Africa if you want to have more frequency. The only thing I omitted to say was which West African nation. We are eager to operate to Canada via West Africa, but that is not in our control because we must speak with authorities and obtain authorization, Mr. Gudeta added.
"I met so many West African community leaders and ambassadors there," he continued. A direct flight between Canada and West Africa is much desired by many of them. We are therefore only waiting for permissions, and we are encouraged by the favourable interactions we are seeing in Canada. We should be able to book additional flights to Canada. Hence, we will undoubtedly establish a connection between Canada and Western Africa.
-By Awuni Alhassan|thetransporteronline24|Ghana
