Ghana international Airlines LGW-ACC (J)
Nov 29, 2009, 3:34 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: UK & Ghana
Programs: BA, VS,
Posts: 224
Ghana international Airlines LGW-ACC (J)
Well, finally time to sample what GIA has to offer after about 2 dozen trips to Acca with BA. Given a free upgrade to business class which was very welcome although economy looked reasonable as well!
Check-in was easy, friendly agent and unlike most of the fellow travellers our baggage was under the weight limits.
GIA use the ServisAir lounge at LGW, this is fine, small, but great views with a good range of drinks/snacks on offer.
Boarding.......anyone who has ever flown to Africa knows that bagage excess is just to be expeced. So feeling like a total failure i boarded with my small breifcase (and it contained my duty free as well!). We were welcomed on board by very friendly crew who took coats and offered drinks. this was a full flight and we were eventually delayed by an hour due to baggage issues (remember the Africa bit!). A member of the airline staff did tell me that one person had arrived at the gate with no less than 17 bags of duty free!.
Seats in business were good, with great seat pitch although recline was a little limited. Really reminded me of the VS seats on the cancelled Al Italia order aircraft. ^
Menu's handed out and orders for lunch taken before take off as there was so much time. Good choice of 1 starter, 4 main courses and 3 desserts which actually turned into 2 desserts and a cheese course with port. The drinks were flowing freely, Blue Top Monopole Champage, a nice Merlot, good port and curvosier VSOP.
IFE was a little how can i say it, African, not to my taste and no perosnal TV's so it was out with the Ipod and a few episodes of Top Gear.
Second meal service was far better than I have ever had on such a short long haul flight (6.5 hours). We were served a great Chichen and vegtable pasty, hot scones with Jam and Clotted cream. (far better than the BA CW offering of strange sandwiches).
The meal services were nicely paced, no rush to get you fed and forgotten about for a few hours, crew were always around the cabin and eager to serve.
arrival into Accra was a little bumpy, unlike some i won't blame the airline for this, economy passengers were held back for Business to get off first, immigration was tedius as usual, bagage took a while and then out into the heat of an Accra evening to see my waiting driver ready to take me to my second home.
Return flight on Wednesday evening, this is the real test, i am not good at sleeping on flights so will i feel any worse or better if i don't have a flat bed as on BA in CW........
to be continued.
Check-in was easy, friendly agent and unlike most of the fellow travellers our baggage was under the weight limits.
GIA use the ServisAir lounge at LGW, this is fine, small, but great views with a good range of drinks/snacks on offer.
Boarding.......anyone who has ever flown to Africa knows that bagage excess is just to be expeced. So feeling like a total failure i boarded with my small breifcase (and it contained my duty free as well!). We were welcomed on board by very friendly crew who took coats and offered drinks. this was a full flight and we were eventually delayed by an hour due to baggage issues (remember the Africa bit!). A member of the airline staff did tell me that one person had arrived at the gate with no less than 17 bags of duty free!.
Seats in business were good, with great seat pitch although recline was a little limited. Really reminded me of the VS seats on the cancelled Al Italia order aircraft. ^
Menu's handed out and orders for lunch taken before take off as there was so much time. Good choice of 1 starter, 4 main courses and 3 desserts which actually turned into 2 desserts and a cheese course with port. The drinks were flowing freely, Blue Top Monopole Champage, a nice Merlot, good port and curvosier VSOP.
IFE was a little how can i say it, African, not to my taste and no perosnal TV's so it was out with the Ipod and a few episodes of Top Gear.
Second meal service was far better than I have ever had on such a short long haul flight (6.5 hours). We were served a great Chichen and vegtable pasty, hot scones with Jam and Clotted cream. (far better than the BA CW offering of strange sandwiches).
The meal services were nicely paced, no rush to get you fed and forgotten about for a few hours, crew were always around the cabin and eager to serve.
arrival into Accra was a little bumpy, unlike some i won't blame the airline for this, economy passengers were held back for Business to get off first, immigration was tedius as usual, bagage took a while and then out into the heat of an Accra evening to see my waiting driver ready to take me to my second home.
Return flight on Wednesday evening, this is the real test, i am not good at sleeping on flights so will i feel any worse or better if i don't have a flat bed as on BA in CW........
to be continued.
Nov 29, 2009, 4:51 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: UK & Ghana
Programs: BA, VS,
Posts: 224
Nov 30, 2009, 11:53 am
#10
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,660
Originally Posted by stuart101
We were eventually delayed by an hour due to baggage issues
The airline is on track to achieve the internal target of 85% on-time and 99.9% dispatch reliability for the year.
Originally Posted by stuart101
Menu's handed out and orders for lunch taken before take off as there was so much time. Good choice of 1 starter, 4 main courses and 3 desserts which actually turned into 2 desserts and a cheese course with port. The drinks were flowing freely, Blue Top Monopole Champage, a nice Merlot, good port and curvosier VSOP.
Code:
MENU London to Accra COCKTAILS We are pleased to offer a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages from our on-board bar. Served with assorted nuts and traditional plantain chips from Ghana. TO BEGIN Slices of grilled chicken breast with ceasar dressing and chilled seared peppers. Assorted warm rolls MAIN COURSE Chicken Persian style Grilled chicken napped with a tangy lemon yogurt sauce served with rice and broccoli Pepper Lamb Tender lamb loin in a peppercorn sauce served with potatoes and sautéed vegetables Spicy Prawns Jumbo prawns in a rich and spicy tomato gravy served on a bed of aromatic white rice Tortellini ricotta e spinaci Ring shaped pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese in a tomato sauce TO FINISH Banoffee Mousse Chocolate Orange Dome Cheese plate with grapes Tea Coffee Port Liqueurs We apologise in advance if your first selection is unavailable due to limitations of space on board the aircraft ROTATION 2 – LGWACC – GG - 0109
Originally Posted by stuart101
GIA are using a 752 at the moment
Here's an actual picture of your flight waiting to push back at Gatwick!!! Sorry for the poor quality, I only had my phone camera on the ramp and it was freezing! If you look carefully you can perhaps see yourself through one of the windows?
Nov 30, 2009, 12:25 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: UK & Ghana
Programs: BA, VS,
Posts: 224
The airline can't be held responsable for a delay caused by the shopping habbits of its customers. This is not a problem limited to GIA, most of my BA flights to ACC have been delayed for the same reason. i am sure every flight into West Africa has the same problems.
Nov 30, 2009, 12:44 pm
#12
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,660
It was unfortunate that on the day in question, there were three issues that prevented this from being executed properly. First, gate 25 where you departed from shares a holding area with 3 other gates so it is impossible to segregate passengers by flight and identify any missing passengers prior to them physically entering the jetway. Second, the location of the gate at the absolute end of Pier 2 means that it is a solid 15 minute walk from the departure lounge and results in most passengers arriving later than they expected to after visiting Duty Free. Third, UK Border Agency was conducting embarkation checks and this caused significant delays as 27 passengers were intercepted for secondary checks, slowing the boarding process tremendously.
GIA averages 92.27% OTP from Accra and 90.22% OTP from Dusseldorf, but only 77.88% OTP from London Gatwick. There is no reason that OTP in London should be inferior to the other stations where the passenger profile is not dissimilar.
Dec 12, 2009, 12:40 pm
#15
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Cold Wet England
Programs: BAEC - Blue - How the once mighty have fallen
Posts: 363
Nice TR.
I flew Ghana International some 3 years back.
Economy class had decent legroom (I'm quite tall) and the food wasn't bad - I remember enjoying rather than enduring the flight
I would use them in perference to BA if flying economy.
Had the same issue with check-in and other passengers with heaps of luggage. A lady actually tried to persuade me to add one of her (many) suitcases into my baggage allowance
I flew Ghana International some 3 years back.
Economy class had decent legroom (I'm quite tall) and the food wasn't bad - I remember enjoying rather than enduring the flight
I would use them in perference to BA if flying economy.
Had the same issue with check-in and other passengers with heaps of luggage. A lady actually tried to persuade me to add one of her (many) suitcases into my baggage allowance