MANAGEMENT OF Ghana International Airlines (GIA) has indicated it is just counting on the mercies of the landlord to carry the airline through its toughest moments or succumb to a closure should the landlord decide to close its offices in Accra.

It told the media in Accra that it has been saddled with so much debt from rent and since Government has cut off all support to operations of the airline, it has become extremely difficult to manage the airline.
This it explained is because Government has refused to allow interested investors to pump money into the airline despite incessant attempts.

Recently, the telephone lines of the company have been severed recently and the internet service could also be cut anytime soon.

Aggrieved workers of the airline who spoke to CITI & BUSINESS GUIDE Friday said the company was just hanging onto the last straw on the camel’s back.

Government has decided not to fund its operations rendering management of the airline unable to pay salaries owed to its staff for about three months.

A more worrying aspect of this treatment meted out to the airline is that investors who expressed interest in helping the airline have been stopped from investing into its operations.

Government’s release of funding to GIA in tranches has grossly affected its operations.

“GIA initially needed an original business start-up of $55 million, but Government provided $4.9 million while minority shareholders provided $2.1 million. Summarily, money invested into the business stood at $7 million, leaving a wide difference of $48 million.”

Management of the airline recently told the media there has been a significant cash flow challenge ever since the airline was started in 2005 and as a result of the manner in which the support to the airline is released; it has found it very difficult to execute the company’s business plan.

According to Sylvia Lawson, a management member of the airline, the previous government invested an amount of $46.7 million between January 2006 and December 2008, noting that $16 million was obtained from the Social Security & National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

In the case of the incumbent administration, she said it provided $16.6 million between January 2009 and April 2010, stressing that Government has provided a total amount of $63.3 million to GIA.

She also revealed that GIA has a greater part of its market in the Ghanaian community in the UK and therefore such a development did not bode well for the airline and the Ghanaian economy.

Samuel Boadi