Emirates has lauded the idea behind the construction of a state-of-the-art Terminal 3 at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
The new terminal is expected to handle up to five million passengers a year, twice the capacity of the current Terminal 2.
The Ghana country manager of Emirates Cathy Wesley has described the upgraded international airport as “a proud moment” since it has huge potentials to attract more passengers or tourists and to generate income for the country.
“Ghanaians should be proud and we are ready to partner to make this a reality,” Wesley stated during an interaction with the media at the Ghana offices of Emirates.
She told the media that Emirates already has plans to make the opening of the Terminal 3 a “memorable one” for its passengers and Ghana.
As part of the plans, Emirates’ iconic A380 aircraft will operate a one-off flight to Kotoka International Airport on Tuesday 2nd October, as the global airline joins local authorities in celebrating the opening of the airport’s new Terminal 3.
The airline’s flagship double-decker will become the first-ever scheduled A380 service to Ghana, with Emirates partnering with the airport to test its operations and infrastructure to accommodate an A380 service.
The one-off A380 flight EK787 from Dubai, will arrive at 11:35 hours and be on ground for more than six hours before it returns to Dubai as flight EK788 departing at 17:50 hours.
Emirates commenced operations to Ghana in January 2004 and flies to Accra daily from Dubai. Close to 1.6 million passengers have flown the Dubai – Accra route since its start, with popular destinations being China, India and the United Kingdom via its Dubai hub. In 2017-18, Emirates transported over 6,300 tons of cargo to and from the country, supporting businesses and exporters. Main commodities exported from Ghana bound for the UAE and beyond to the Emirates network include fresh and cut fruits.
The Emirates A380 flying to Accra will be set in a three-class configuration, with 426 seats in Economy Class on the main deck, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites on the upper deck. Once the A380 reaches cruising altitude, passengers in the First Class can enjoy Private Suites, and Shower Spas, an Onboard Lounge for First Class and Business Class passengers that offers a wide range of drinks and canapés, as well as space to socialise or simply relax at 40,000 feet.
Passengers travelling on the main deck in Economy Class can enjoy stretching out in seats with a pitch of up to 33 inches. Passengers in all classes will enjoy Emirates’ multi award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, offering over 3,500 channels of on-demand entertainment. The largest selection of programming in the sky includes a broad selection of movies, shows, music and other programming from Africa, and up to 20MB complimentary on-board Wi-Fi.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Emirates A380. As the largest operator of the double-decker aircraft, Emirates’ currently has 104 A380s in service and 58 pending delivery, more than any airline globally. The airline also recently announced a US$ 16 billion (AED 58.7 billion) deal for 36 additional Airbus A380 aircraft.
About Terminal 3
With the added-on capacity, passengers could be processed faster, airlines will have adequate space to provide better services for passengers and issues of congestion that used to mark Terminal 2 are expected to be a thing of the past.
Terminal 3 has five levels spread across 45,000 square meters and has parking space for 700 cars.
The new terminal has six contact stands for Code E aircraft and two remote stands.
At the departure level, it has 56 check-in desks, 30 passport control centres and eight security lanes. It has 24 immigration counters, four e-gate positions [expandable to eight] and four reclaim devices.
The terminal is equipped with a fully automated baggage handling system to handle both destination and transit luggage at 3,500 bags an hour.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
