The primary ITA Airways flight from Rome Fiumicino arrived at Kotoka Worldwide Airport in Accra, Ghana. The plane, an Airbus A321neo, was welcomed with a water arch salute.
The inaugural ITA Airways flight from Accra Airport to Rome Fiumicino departed at 11:45 p.m. native time.
To have a good time the launch of this new intercontinental route, the Firm’s first vacation spot in sub-Saharan Africa, an more and more strategic market, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on the arrival gate C8 in Terminal 3 of Accra Airport. The ceremony was attended by Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, Managing Director for Ghana Airports Firm Restricted, Daniela d’Orlandi, Ambassador of Italy to Ghana and Togo, Merene Benyah, Ambassador of Ghana to Italy, Rev Stephen Wilfred Arthur, Director, Enterprise Improvement and Financial Rules of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Pierfrancesco Carino, Vice President Worldwide Gross sales ITA Airways, and Benedetto Mencaroni, Regional Supervisor for Asia, Center East, and Africa ITA Airways.
“We’re proud to inaugurate the brand new direct flight between Accra and Rome,” mentioned Emiliana Limosani, Chief Business Officer of ITA Airways and CEO of Volare. “The launch of this new flight, the one direct connection between Ghana and Italy, represents a major step ahead for the Firm: it’s the first new flight to the African continent, a market with a fantastic potential, of the present Summer season season and can allow ITA Airways not solely to realize a strategic entry for point-to-point site visitors but additionally to achieve different locations inside each International locations, thereby combining leisure and enterprise journey.”
Reacting to the information,Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, Managing Director of Ghana Airports Firm Limitedon behalf of the Board, Administration and Workers, expressed pleasure in regards to the new airline whose entry provides to the various portfolio of airways arriving and departing from Kotoka Worldwide Airport. “We look ahead to ITA Airways’ inaugural flight on June 6, 2024, simply in time for the summer time peak journey season’’, she mentioned. She additional assured of GACL’s readiness to facilitate operations and processes in working collaboratively with all companies on the airport along with ITA Airways to present passengers a easy journey expertise by means of Kotoka Worldwide Airport.
Daniela d’Orlandi, Ambassador of Italy to Ghana, welcomed: “The beginning of ITA Airways’ direct connections between Accra and Rome will additional strengthen the already glorious collaborative relationship between Italy and Ghana in all areas and can carry our peoples even nearer”.
Merene Benyah, Ambassador of Ghana to Italy mentioned: “This renewed direct flight service by ITA Airways is certainly a measure of the rising enterprise and business pursuits between Ghana and Italy; and can little doubt improve commerce, funding, tourism, and cultural hyperlinks between the 2 International locations. Ghana has typically been described because the gateway to Africa because of its strategic geographic location, democratic credentials, conducive enterprise setting, wholesome respect for the rule of regulation, and the proverbial heat hospitality of its individuals. The choice of ITA Airways to re-commence providers between the 2 International locations is a testomony to this”.
The Accra–Rome route, the one direct connection between Ghana and Italy, is step one for the Firm in establishing a better presence in West Africa, a key vacation spot for each leisure and company site visitors. Following the Accra route, a brand new flight from Rome Fiumicino to Dakar will likely be inaugurated in July.
The brand new route operates with the next schedule:
· Accra to Rome with three weekly frequencies, growing to 4 in July: departure from Kotoka Worldwide Airport is scheduled at 11:45 p.m. (native time), with arrival at Rome Fiumicino at 7:35 a.m. within the morning after departure from Ghana (native time).
· Rome to Accra with three weekly frequencies, growing to 4 in July: departure from Rome Fiumicino is scheduled at 3:30 p.m. (native time) with arrival in Ghana at 7:15 p.m. (native time).
Flights to and from Accra will likely be operated with the brand new Airbus A321neo, a new-generation, technologically superior plane. The A321neo is the biggest plane within the Airbus A320neo household and affords distinctive vary and efficiency. Environment friendly and quiet, the brand new A321neo boasts 20% decrease gas consumption and CO2 emissions per seat. It’s the first narrow-body plane configured with three separate cabins: Enterprise Class (12 seats), Premium Financial system (12 seats), and Financial system (141 seats, together with 12 devoted to Consolation Financial system). The cabin interiors, solely designed by Walter de Silva, completely embody the magnificence and magnificence typical of Italy.
Distinctive options of the A321neo embody the Airspace Cabin with new colours and supplies, the most recent technology of seats, new ITA Airways personalized inside lighting and XL overhead bins. Every seat is provided with the most recent leisure system, that includes “on-demand” video and audio, 17.3” (Enterprise),
15.6” (Premium Financial system) and 13.3” (Financial system) low reflectivity and 4K decision touchscreens for a easy, easy and intuitive consumer expertise.
With this new route, ITA Airways will function 57 locations within the present summer time season, together with 16 home, 26 worldwide, and 15 intercontinental. Moreover, throughout the peak of the summer time, the airline will fly to 12 extra seasonal locations, chosen among the many hottest Mediterranean vacationer spots, together with Greece, Spain, Croatia, and the Italian islands, accessible with direct flights from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate.
