Defunct Ghana Airways plane turned into restaurant

Government has engaged a transactional advisor to help Ghana with a roadmap to start a new national carrier, Mrs. Dzifa Aku Attivor, Minister of Transport announced on Friday in Accra.

“Let me say without any shadow of doubt that President John Dramani Mahama is very committed to bringing back the defunct Ghana Airways. The Aviation sector is of great importance to this administration and it is against this background that we are working very hard to bring total transformation to our airports”, the Minister indicated.

Speaking at the commissioning of the new La Tante DC 10 Restaurant and Bar, Mrs. Attivor said the aviation sector had a critical role to play in opening up the country for development of agriculture, trade and tourism.

The defunct national carrier, DC-10, had been refurbished into the new La Tante Restaurant DC 10, which is situated right opposite the Marina Shopping Mall at the Airport City in Accra.

The La Tante DC 10 restaurant is fully air-conditioned with a unique ambiance reflecting the La Tante brand and a seating capacity of 118. The chairs and tables have been re-designed to meet high operational standards with separate wash rooms for male and female customers.

While commending the innovation, the first of its kind in West Africa, Mrs. Attivor expressed sadness “that we cannot boast of our own airline, and that our DC-10 which used to fly high the red, gold, green and the black star is today serving as a restaurant”.

She however, commended the proprietress of Vindira Company Limited for the decision to convert the disused aircraft into a world-class restaurant and bar. “This is a manifestation of government creation of an environment conducive for sustained business and growth of the aviation industry in Ghana.

Mrs. Attivor further explained that following the decoupling of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority in 2006, the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) was charged among others to focus on an aggressive commercialization business drive that involved various landslide and terminal commercial activities and developments and that La Tante restaurant fell into the airport commercial programme.

She said the objective of establishing land slide commercial activities of that nature was to diversify the airport commercial portfolio, not only for economic gain to increase non-aeronautical revenue but also to create the appropriate unique environment that excites the travelling and general public.

She encouraged the operators of the Restaurant to ensure the highest standard of service and the proper maintenance of the facility so it would contribute to GACL’s commercial drive.

Ms Indira Shriyan, Director of Vindira Company Limited, operators of the Restaurant, said  about eight years ago, her company formed a strategic partnership in  the  airport  retail food  and  beverage  business  with  GACL after having won the  concession  contract to operate  a restaurant named  La Tante Royale, at the International departures of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

“La Tante Royale experienced success in satisfying the expectations of its customers by providing high quality food with an irresistible appeal.  Therefore, it came as no surprise when Vindira Company LTD was given the opportunity to develop and manage the proposed La Tante DC10 Restaurant under the La Tante brand name”, she noted.

Ms Shriyan said the new restaurant has a well-stocked  bar that provide a wide variety of  both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to satisfy the tastes of different customer  segments and the food menu reflects a typical African cuisine in addition to a variety of continental  dishes.

La Tante DC 10 Restaurant has facilities for outside catering, parties and other social functions like wedding receptions etc. It also has a high level security put in place to effectively manage the risks of theft and unauthorized access to the facility. Fire safety systems have been installed with the assistance of KUO Fire to control the risk of any fire-outbreak on the premises.

The restaurant would start operation on Monday 11 November and would be opened to the general public.

Source: GNA