Starbow, a
startup airline based in Accra, said it commenced services in late September.
The carrier is operating domestic flights in Ghana using two BAe 146-300s leased from
Riva Investments, which purchased them from
Falko Regional Aircraft (
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"Domestic services envisaged for Starbow include routes centered on
Accra and the important regional city of
Kumasi and linking them to other destinations such as
Tamale and
Takoradi," CEO Simon Saoud said in a statement. "The company believes in the considerable potential for airline business in West Africa."
While operating domestically initially, Saoud said the airline "plans to offer direct air services to the capital cities of neighboring countries such as Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Monrovia, Liberia; Bamako, Mali; Niamey, Niger; Lagos, Nigeria; and Freetown, Sierra Leone."
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Brock Friesen, cited as the carrier's co-CEO, said there is a significant need for more air connections between West African cities. "I can't think of anywhere in the world where you have so many large cities with less than or one flight a day," he said. "If you look at a city pair like the routes into and out of Accra, which is a major regional center in West Africa, it's hard to find many cities that have daily flights."