Africa World Airlines Limited (AWA) is a Ghanaian airline company that was incorporated in 2010 and commenced flights in 2012. It has its head office in Airport City Accra,[4] and its main hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.[3]
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| Founded | 2010 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 21 September 2012 | ||||||
| AOC # | 030 | ||||||
| Hubs | Kotoka International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 7 | ||||||
| Destinations | 6 | ||||||
| Parent company | HNA Group | ||||||
| Headquarters | Accra, Ghana | ||||||
| Key people | Zhou Yingli (CEO)[1] | ||||||
| Founder | Togbe Afede XIV[2] | ||||||
| Employees | 381 (2020)[3] | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
It is the largest airline in Ghana with over 600,000 passengers booked in 2022,[3] accounting for 55% of domestic passengers and 20% of all air passengers in the country.[5][6][7] The airline has been consistently profitable since 2014.[8][9]
AWA is a joint venture between Ghanaian shareholders SAS Finance Group and SSNIT, with minority shareholdings also by both HNA Group and China-Africa Development Fund via Zhongjia Investments of China.[10][11][12]
History
editStartup
edit
AWA was born as the brainchild of noted Ghanaian investment banker and traditional leader Togbe Afede XIV.[13] The airline received its Air Carrier License from Ghana Civil Aviation Authority on 4 March 2011.[14][15] After securing funding and partnership for the project, the initial management team led by CEO Zhang Jiuhua and COO Sean Mendis proceeded with the technical certification of the airline.[16][17][18] AWA took delivery of its first Embraer 145 aircraft in August 2012, immediately followed by a second aircraft in September 2012.[19][2] It received its Air Operator Certificate on 21 September 2012 and commenced flight operations that same day with daily services between Accra and Kumasi.[13] Flights to Tamale commenced later that year. By 2013, Zhang had been replaced by Michael Cheng Luo as CEO,[20] and Mendis was replaced as COO by Apiigy Afenu.[18] A third Embraer 145 was delivered in November 2013 as the airline increased frequencies on the domestic routes.[21]
Consolidation
editIn December 2013, AWA launched its first international route connecting Accra with Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos.[22] Services to its fourth domestic destination of Takoradi commenced in May 2015.[23] Plans for expansion of regional routes were temporarily put on hold due to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa,[24] but the airline nonetheless recorded its first annual profits in 2014.[8] The airline continued to expand its domestic market share during this period,[25] and focussed on training Ghanaian staff in technical roles such as pilots and engineers to reduce dependence on expatriates.[26] In May 2015, AWA successfully completed its first IOSA audit, making it only the second airline in Ghana to achieve this international safety standard.[27] In October 2015, Samuel Thompson took over from Apiigy Afenu as COO.[28]
Expansion
edit
AWA began the next phase of its expansion in December 2016, with the delivery of its fourth Embraer 145 aircraft.[21] In 2017, John Xiaoyi Quan, former Managing Director of Air Guilin in China, took over as CEO.[29] Two additional aircraft were also delivered in 2017 taking the fleet up to six.[21] New services to Abuja[30] and Monrovia[31] were launched. AWA became a full member of IATA in 2017,[32] following the completion of its second IOSA audit. The airline is the only IATA member airline in Ghana.[33] In 2018, Sean Mendis returned as COO after 6 years away.[18] The airline launched flights to Freetown in 2018,[34] Wa in 2019,[35] and Abidjan in 2020.[36] Michael Cheng Luo also returned as CEO in 2019 [20][37] and the airline took delivery of its seventh and eight aircraft in 2018 and 2019 respectively.[21] The airline was the largest international carrier operating to Nigeria by 2019 with 200 monthly frequencies to both Lagos and Abuja.[18][38] AWA consolidated its position as the premier airline in Anglophone West Africa with its dominance of the Nigerian regional travel market, and its numerous partnerships with international airlines.[39][18][40]
COVID-19 pandemic
editAWA temporarily suspended passenger operations on 30 March 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19 in Ghana.[41] Domestic passenger operations resumed on 1 May 2020 under enhanced sanitary protocols, including disinfection of the aircraft after each flight.[citation needed] The airline continued to operate humanitarian flights to repatriate Ghanaians stranded abroad during the period of closed borders,[42][non-primary source needed] and began a phased resumption of international flights from September 2020.[43] Domestic traffic had recovered to 2019 levels by the end of 2020.[44] AWA received the second highest score among all African airlines for their COVID-19 safety protocols as assessed by independent watchdog Safe Travel Barometer.[45] In 2021, AWA once again booked over 600,000 passengers, thus almost matching the record traffic levels seen in 2019.[6]
Post COVID challenges
editAWA failed to restart flights to Wa after the COVID-19 related disruptions, citing safety concerns at the airport.[46] The airline saw significant staff turnover and changes during the period immediately following the pandemic, with both COO Mendis and CEO Luo exiting the company for the second time at the expiry of their contracts in 2020 and 2022 respectively, and Yingli Zhou taking over as the new Chief Executive.[47][1] The airline faced significant operational issues that led to the grounding of three aircraft and forced them to suspend flights to Abidjan, Freetown and Monrovia. Increased competition from Passion Air also led to an erosion of AWA's previously dominant domestic market share during 2022.[48] Zhou has cited a need to refocus operations away from lower yielding international routes as one of his priorities.[1]
Fleet
edit
Current fleet
editAs of June 2024[update], Africa World Airlines operates the following aircraft:[49][21][48][50]
| Aircraft | In Service | Passengers | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | E | Total | |||||
| Embraer ERJ-145LR | 7 | 0 | 50 | 50 | [51] | ||
| Total | 7
|
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Fleet development
editAfrica World Airlines took delivery on 30 August 2012 of its first Embraer 145 aircraft that was used to operate domestic routes.[52] A second aircraft was delivered on 8 September 2012.[2] The airline added a third aircraft in 2013 and a further five aircraft between 2016 and 2019. All these aircraft were previously operated by Tianjin Airlines which is a sister company within the HNA Group.[53] AWA was the largest operator of the Embraer 145 type in the Middle East and Africa region, but operational constraints have left the fleet with only 4 airworthy aircraft as of September 2022.[50]
Future plans
editAfrica World Airlines stated that it intended to introduce two additional ERJ-145s in 2021,[36] as well as a larger capacity aircraft type at the appropriate time to expand its regional routes.[54][55] In 2019, a three-way MoU was signed between COMAC, CAD Fund and AWA to promote the launch of the ARJ-21 aircraft in the African market, although no specific timeline was given for the introduction of this type.[56]
Destinations
edit
Africa World Airlines operated the following scheduled services as of August 2022.[57][58]
On 15 April 2021, Africa World Airlines conducted the first ever test flight by a jet aircraft to Ho Airport in the Volta Region of Ghana. The airline stated that they intended to commence scheduled services between Ho and Accra shortly thereafter.[59] However, in March 2022, AWA confirmed that it had decided not to launch flights on this route due to operational challenges.[60]
In August 2022, AWA made the decision to suspend all flights to Freetown and Monrovia due to operational constraints. Coming on the heels of the cancellation of Abidjan services, it left AWA serving only destinations in Ghana and Nigeria as of September 2022.[48][50]
Statistics
editAs a privately owned carrier, AWA does not make financial data available to the public. However, traffic statistics are published by the airline as well as Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and Ghana Airports Company Limited.[3][7][5] Other figures have been made available via press reports, interviews and other publications.[8][9][21][61][6]
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profitability | loss | loss | profit | profit | profit | profit | profit | profit | ||||
| Number of employees | 276 | 381 | ||||||||||
| Number of passengers | 85,850 | 149,940 | 184,800 | 251,289 | 418,889 | 467,438 | 601,930 | 335,989 | 600,196 | 601,790 | 471,675 | |
| Passenger load factor (%) | 74.8% | 75.2% | 77.1% | 76.7% | 76.4% | 86.8% | 86.1% | 80.2% | ||||
| Number of aircraft (at year end) | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
Partnerships
edit
Africa World Airlines has interline agreements with the following airlines:[62]
Agreements
editIn 2019, AWA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with South African Airways to jointly pursue opportunities in West Africa, including a system-wide codeshare agreement and other commercial partnerships.[63] The codeshare went into effect in October 2019.[64]
The airline also announced an interline partnership with Emirates to provide domestic and regional feed to their flights at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.[65]
AWA also signed a tripartite partnership with Ethiopian Airlines and ASKY to offer seamless travel within the West African region.[66]
In October 2019, AWA and Brussels Airlines concluded an interline partnership to connect passengers through their joint networks.[67][68]
AWA and Air Burkina announced in January 2020 that they had concluded a partnership for passengers to connect from Ouagadougou through Accra to Lagos, Abuja and Abidjan.[69]
Africa World Airlines and Cabo Verde Airlines also announced a partnership effective from February 2020 to improve connectivity in West Africa between their respective networks.[70][71]
In May 2022, AWA and Kenya Airways announced an expansion of their partnership to enhance West African connectivity between the two airlines over AWA's hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.[72]
Awards and recognition
edit
Africa World Airlines has been recognised as "Domestic Airline of the Year" in Ghana every year consecutively since 2015. In September 2019, the airline was inducted into the CIMG Hall of Fame after being voted the winner in the "Domestic Airline of the Year" category for five consecutive years.[73]
Africa World Airlines was also recognised as "Best Airline in West Africa" for 2019 by the Balafon Travel Awards being held during the Accra Weizo 2019 travel conference and exhibition.[74]
In April 2019, AWA was recognised by Embraer for providing the highest quality standard of fleet reliability data among all Embraer 145 operators worldwide.[75]
In October 2019, Africa World Airlines received the 2019 AviaTour award for "Best Passenger Experience".[76]
In December 2019, the prestigious Routes Africa Awards honored the airline with the Airline Excellence Award for "Innovation and Capacity Growth" in recognition for AWA's steady growth and creative marketing.[77]
AWA also received recognition and commendation from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and President Jair Bolsonaro in July 2020, for assisting with the repatriation of Brazilian citizens from 7 countries in West Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.[78][79]
Africa World Airlines was the recipient of the Tower Award for "Best African Airline Connectivity (Regional)" at the Aviators Africa conference in October 2021. The airline won the award for the second consecutive year in October 2022.[80][81]
In February 2022, AWA was recognised as the Best International Carrier in Nigeria for 2021 by the organisers of the Abuja Jabamah Travel Awards.[82]
Incidents
edit- On 13 February 2018, an Africa World Airlines Embraer 145 from Lagos to Accra with 41 passengers and 4 crew was the target of a robbery plot while taxiing for departure. The pilot discharged hot air from the aircraft's exhaust onto the robbers, scaring them away. The aircraft was subsequently checked by police and departed after a 2 hour delay.[83][84][85]
References
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- ^ a b c "Togbe Afede's Airline Takes Delivery of Second Aircraft". Ghanaweb.com. 11 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d "About Africa World Airlines". Africa World Airlines. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Contact Us". Africa World Airlines. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Traffic Statistics". Ghana Airports Company Limited. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ a b c Maclean Kwofi (31 March 2022). "Domestic Air Travels Surge". Daily Graphic.
- ^ a b "Aviation Statistics - GCAA". Ghana Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "HNA's Africa World Airlines helps the Ghanaian government". PR Newswire. 8 April 2020.
- ^ a b James Pearson (5 November 2019). "Africa World Airlines will be West Africa's leading carrier". Anna.aero.
- ^ Katie Cantle; Rob Finlayson (25 July 2012). "Hainan Airlines, Africa World Airlines launch JV". Aviation Week.
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- ^ "Post by Africa World Airlines Limited". LinkedIn. Africa World Airlines. 4 March 2021.
On 4th March 2011, Africa World Airlines was awarded our Air Carrier License by Ghana Civil Aviation Authority
- ^ Drew Hinshaw (29 December 2011). "West African Skies beckon new carriers". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "HNA Group invests in Africa World Airlines". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 23 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Victoria Moores (7 September 2020). "Mendis confident in post-virus world". African Aerospace Magazine.
- ^ "AWA to receive first aircraft on August 30". Africa Business Communities. 29 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Africa World Airlines re-appoints Michael Cheng Luo as CEO". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 19 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "Africa World Airlines Fleet". AirFleets.net. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ a b "AWA flies to Lagos twice daily". LIV News. 10 December 2013.
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- ^ "Meet the AWA CEO". Facebook. Africa World Airlines. 19 June 2017.
Mr Quan John Xiaoyi has 16 years of Airline Experience having held various positions within Hainan Airlines in China and its conglomerate. His last post was MD of Air Guilin.
- ^ a b Gh, Starrfm. com (27 June 2017). "Africa World Airlines begin Accra-Abuja daily flights". Starr Fm.
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- ^ @FlyAfricaWorld (14 December 2018). "A team from IATA visited Africa World Airlines..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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- ^ "AWA first to serve Wa". ch-aviation. 6 September 2019.
- ^ a b Kojo Bentum Williams (15 February 2020). "AWA continues expansion with inaugural Abidjan flight". Voyages Afriq.
- ^ "Making Ghana Proud". FLYAfrica. Accra, Ghana: Land & Marine Publications. August 2019. p. 2. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Africa World Airlines increases Abuja frequencies". RoutesOnline.com. Informa Markets. 21 May 2019.
- ^ Chinedu Eze (29 January 2021). "Nigeria loses West African air travel market to Ghanaian carrier". This Day (Nigeria).
- ^ Jon Howell (23 September 2022). Sean Mendis. Looking back at 10 years of Africa World Airlines- an African aviation success story (Television production). AviaDev Africa – via YouTube.
- ^ Elizabeth Sasu (28 March 2020). "AWA to suspend all flights by Monday". GH-Aviation.
- ^ "Africa World Airlines - Bringing Ghanaians Home". Africa World Airlines. April 2020.
- ^ Chidozie Uzoezie (8 September 2020). "AWA to resume international operations". The AfriTraveller.
- ^ Victoria Moores (25 November 2020). "ANALYSIS: For Most African Carriers, Next Year Will Be Precarious". Aviation Week.
- ^ "Africa World scores second highest in Africa for Safe travel". Africa World Airlines. November 2020.
- ^ "Wa route to be back after safety concerns fixed". Ghanaweb.com. 22 April 2021.
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- ^ a b c Dominick Andoh (12 August 2022). "Africa World Airlines To Suspend Monrovia, Freetown Operations". Aviation Ghana.
- ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 15.
- ^ a b c Dominick Andoh (31 August 2022). "AWA suspends West Coast Operations". Aviation Ghana.
- ^ "Africa World Airlines on ch-aviation". ch-aviation. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
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- ^ "COMAC signs MOU on Jointly Promoting China-Africa Regional Aviation Cooperation with CADFund and Africa World Airlines". COMAC. 10 September 2019.
- ^ "Destinations - Africa World Airlines". Africa World Airlines. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
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- ^ "Africa World Airlines conducts test flight at Ho Airport ahead of Ho-Accra service launch". CAPA Center for Aviation. 16 April 2021.
- ^ Maclean Kwofi (5 April 2022). "Airlines ghost Ho airport". Daily Graphic.
- ^ "LinkedIn : Africa World Airlines Limited". LinkedIn. Africa World Airlines. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Connection Partners - Africa World Airlines". Africa World Airlines. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "South African Airways Increases West African Connectivity". Sawubona. Johannesburg, South Africa: Mikateko Media. April 2019. p. 102. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Africa World Airlines and South African Airways Unveil New Codeshare Agreement". Aviation Tribune. 31 October 2019.
- ^ Nour Salman (16 April 2019). "Interline agreement between Emirates Airline, Africa World Airlines". WAM - The Emirates News Agency.
- ^ Kojo Bentum Williams (17 August 2019). "AWA, ASKY, Ethiopian Airlines partner to bring seamless travel to Ghanaians". Voyages Afriq.
- ^ Kojo Bentum Williams (8 October 2019). "Africa World and Brussels Airlines interline to provide seamless travel for passengers". Voyages Afriq.
- ^ Jeanette Briedenhann (21 October 2019). "AWA partners with Brussels Airlines". Inside Travel.
- ^ Romuald Ngueyap (13 January 2020). "AWA inks interline partnership with Air Burkina to improve connectivity in West Africa". Ecofin Agency.
- ^ "Cabo Verde Airlines and Africa World Airlines improve air connections in West Africa". World Air News. 30 January 2020.
- ^ Prof. Wolfgang Thome (5 February 2020). "Africa World Airlines, Cabo Verde Airlines partner to grow connectivity in West Africa". ATC News.
- ^ "Africa World Airlines partners with Kenya Airways". Logistics Update Africa. 6 May 2022.
- ^ Patricia Ama Bonsu (4 October 2019). "Africa World Airlines Inducted into CIMG Hall of Fame". Modern Ghana.
- ^ "Africa World Airlines Wins Award". Holiday Guide Magazine. 7 October 2019.
- ^ Ronald Donner (26 June 2019). "Aviation on the World's Second Largest Continent Remains Challenging". Aviation Pros.
- ^ Ikechi Uko, ed. (4 October 2019). "Aviation: Africa World Airlines Bags Best Passenger Experience Award". African Travel Quarterly (ATQ).
- ^ "Cape Town Air Access named the Overall Winner for second year runningin the Routes Africa 2019 Awards". Modern Ghana. 10 December 2019.
- ^ "Africa World ERJ145s Repatriate Brazilians". Embraer Commercial Aviation. 24 July 2020.
- ^ @jairbolsonaro (23 July 2020). "Bom trabalho Ministro @ernestofaraujo e equipe!" (Tweet) (in Brazilian Portuguese) – via Twitter.
- ^ Toni Ukachukwu, ed. (27 October 2021). "Aviators Africa - Tower Awards - Winners". Aviators Africa.
- ^ Sade Williams (3 November 2022). "Stakeholders at fourth Aviators Africa Conference seek reorganisation of Africa's aviation". The Travel Port (Nigeria).
- ^ "Travellers Award Unveils Africa World Airline As The Best International Airline In Nigeria". African Travel Quarterly (ATQ). 1 February 2022.
- ^ "AWA Pilot says robbery happens only in Lagos". Sahara Reporters. 25 February 2018.
- ^ Ben Schlappig (19 February 2018). "I have so many questions about this Lagos airport robbery". One Mile At A Time.
- ^ "Ghanaian pilot unleashes hot gas on Nigerian thieves in aircraft robbery attempt". Ghanaweb.com. 15 February 2018.
External links
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