peck

I have flown in and out of Ghana pretty regularly over the years (it's a great country!) but vary rarely on the BA service - it always seemed incredibly expensive, to the point where my (pretty generous) corporate travel budget wouldn't stretch.

I imagine it's a bit of a cash cow for BA to be honest. All the time corporates are paying the high fares, BA won't be rushing to make any improvements I'm sure.

TravellerFrequently

A sensible suggestion based on the facilities and lounges vs the cabins provided.

I suspect that there are other reasons for the current T3 flights such as transfer passengers and connections, flight times, passenger volumes and perhaps flight yields.

obduro

I find it very odd someone this senior in Government would take the time to publicly bash a company over the terminal they fly into, in a foreign country. Not least while at an event commemorating the aviation relationship between two countries (with BA as a proxy).

Surely you have more important things to concern yourself with than the inconvenience of a transfer between terminals in a different continent?!

AAtticus

Surely he hasn't visited the CX lounge in T3 then, now that's a perk of flying BA out of T3!

Deltus

Exactly - the lounges plus the better connections to HEx and tube make T3 a much better option than T5! Presumably if it were at T5 then it would be from the B or C gates anyway, and therefore even less convenient.

navylad

As per my Yes Minister comment, perhaps he is trying to distract publicity from probably a more important, yet bad publicity story...

mutwadadi

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navylad

Is that not the case with most of BA's flights irrespective of whether they are into T3?

mutwadadi

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shefgab

I was going to ask the same thing! Be thankful that a foreign carrier is offering direct links to your country given that no Ghanian company is in a position to do so. I imagine BA sending a clapped out Fokker 50 to ACC is better than no service whatsoever. Given how few African routes are now served (ADD/DAR/KRT/ROB/HBE/CMN etc all dropped by BA/BD) the fact that there is still a service to ACC should appreciated not slammed.

navylad

Of course it is, but the reality is there is not enough capacity at T5 and most people will argue for their flights going into T5, I just don't see what Ghana should be a special case than any other 6.5 hour flight. Perhaps Kenya would rather their flights fly into T5, or people from Vancouver, Miami etc.

HIDDY

BA fares are competitive on this route compared to what other European carriers charge from their home airports.

Anyway, he's got enough problems to sort out nearer home without worrying which terminal BA uses at LHR.
We had go through years of listening to this type of drivel when the K woman was in charge. She was always bad mouthing LAN while her own country's airline was squandering millions of dollars of tax payers money every day through corrupt management.

Beltway2A

The announcement was made in celebration of 80 years of air service. Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom, and control of their own resources, is shorter than that. I wonder how they got into this situation

binman

Perfectly reasonable for anyone to express their opinion on the actions of airline and perhaps it is also important that head of state stand up for their ( small) countries when globalised businesses try take advantage of them.

I lived and work in Ghana in the late 80's early 90's ( Gerry Rawlings regime)and BA had a pretty ropey reputation then for using clapped out aircraft on the route. Tri-stars that only just made it and often dumped half the pineapple cargo to get back to London. Things improved with the takeover of BCal whose reputation in neighbouring Sierra Leone and other west African countries was streets ahead. That brought in the DC10 and a marked improvement in service.

Fares have sadly always been exploitative from West Africa and discounts were generally rare. Ghana Airways had some great routes around the region and I remember taking a 3 or 4 stops epic to fly back to Accra from Banjul.

Did you know that the senior Captain in Ghana airways was also the worlds most experienced Captain on DC10s! Nice chap but his name alludes me.

binman

As yes........ the African should be grateful that the European continues to exploit them........school of thinking.

Sorry, what should be admired is that Ghana has not gone down the road of investing in a national carrier as a vanity project. It should be welcomed and supported that a country chooses to expend its resources a little more wisely than many others.

Supporting you country by standing up for the people is what the president is paid to do. I would not advocate that it becomes a daily "Trump tactic" to divert attention but in the context he was speaking,he was right.

I have been away a long time and not followed Ghanaian politics closely but even in Gerry Rawlings time the emphasise was on building a first world country and they seem to have moved a long way since independence. Good luck to them.