Ghana Airports Company commissions $15m passenger facilitation technology at KIA
The Ghana Airports Company Ltd. (GACL), has added another innovation to the facilities at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.
The company has launched a Passenger Facilitation Technology that is designed to improve passenger flow and baggage management.
The facility was put up by Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA), the world’s leading specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions at the cost of about $15 million. SITA and GACL hope to recoup this amount over a 10 year period. The 10 year implementation period allows for technology upgrades and includes a new Baggage Reconciliation System and Common-Use Self Service (CUSS), Airport Operations Data Base (AODB) and Airportvision, which ensures passengers’ real time view on flights changes.
Speaking at the official commissioning at the KIA, Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, the Managing Director of GACL said, ‘’ the Ghana Airports Company Limited is keen to ensure that all passengers checking in at Kotoka International Airport have a smooth and pleasant passage through the airport with minimum delays’’. She added that, SITA’s airport management solution will anchor systems integration across the airport and self-service check-in is something that passengers now expect as much as online booking.
‘‘Passengers also place a high premium on their baggage arriving safely. SITA’s Baggage Reconciliation System now provides us with maximum visibility on baggage movements from check-in loading. This will also enhance airport and flight security while assuring passengers’ that we have infrastructure in place that they can be relied on.”
Speaking at the commissioning, Mr Twumasi Selby Ankrah, Director, Monitoring & Evaluation at the Ministry of Transport, who represented the Minister for Transport revealed that government is considering the abolishment of the 60% government share and 40% airport share of the airport service charge and rather retain all to the airport company to be used for the development of the airport.
By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor