Medview to Use Accra for Hub Service

By Chinedu Eze

Medview Airline has said it will expand its operations to more West African destinations, using Accra as operational base.

The airline made this known at the weekend in Ghana’s capital when it interacted with travel agents who became elated when the airline offered them five per cent and  nine  per cent as commission on tickets sold.

According to the company, with the delivery of additional airplanes to its fleet, it will extend its service to some West and Central African destinations, including Dakar, Freetown, Monrovia, Abidjan, Conakry and Douala, using Accra as operational base.

The airline said this was a bold step it has taken to continue to grow into a big, strong and reliable Nigeria carrier as it has already expanded service to London, Saudi Arabia and soon it would start operation to Dubai.

The airline said it has concluded plans to join the league of airlines using the Billing (Bank) Settlement Plan ( BSP) to offer both passengers and travel partners seamless booking and payment system.

BSP is an electronic billing system designed to facilitate the flow of data and funds between travel agencies and airlines.

The Head of Flight Operations, Captain Godfrey Ogbogu, who represented the Managing Director/CEO of the airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, disclosed that barely one year after they commenced operations into Accra, the airline has added another milestone on that route.

 He said the BSP would go a long way in transforming the system the travel agents and travellers do business with them, adding that Accra was only a stepping stone towards opening up networks and markets in the West Coast.

“We have a  sustained operations into London Gatwick and Jeddah, we will be doing more of that soon, the market is gradually expanding; apart from Lagos, Medview regards Accra as its home, we place so much premium in cultivating relationship across economic lines, especially with the travel and trade partners.

“We want to cultivate a partnership that is open to exploring more frontiers, that is mutually beneficial, that is the way to grow. The trade partners had been a good support all the way and that is why we will continue to be partners,” he said.

 In his presentation, Senior Agency Manager, Azeez Abbas,  assured the partners and travellers that Medview would live up to its values, vision and mission.

He said the airline currently pursuing a fleet expansion programme that would see its fleet increased astronomically from its present seven.

“We operate over 40 flights per week, we have over 14 approvals to Accra, we are pursuing a rigorous fleet expansion plan that will take us far, by July this year, we will take delivery of another B737-800 apart from others that will see us expanding our international operations,” he said.

“Accra is very important to us. We have concluded plans to operate to Dakar, Monrovia and Freetown via Accra any moment from May. We’ve reinforced our frequencies by up to 30 percent compare to 2015. We have also finalised our IOSA, we will get certified by May 2016,” he said.

 Abbas disclosed further that apart from Ghana, the BSP was already on in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, adding that Medview has almost concluded with the implementation of Amadeus solutions for its General Sales Agent.

“We are also studying that of Sabre and Galileo but with BSP, payment plans become seamless,” he added.