The Country Commercial Manager of the British Airways (BA), Mr Kevin Leung, has described the Ghanaian aviation market as an important one in the West African sub-region.That, he said, was one of the main reasons the British Airways had stayed and operated in the country for the past 80 years, and was poised to serve customers in Ghana.
Speaking to the media in Accra, Mr Leung indicated that the international airline operator had invested over £5 billion in its global operations.
“In recent years we have invested over £5 billion in our global operations and Ghana has certainly not been left out of this investment, a significant amount of this investment has gone into customer convenience and efficient operation,” he said.
“As an international airline serving about 200 destinations in 90 countries in the world, we understand more than most of the important link between efficient, modern air links and successful business,” he noted.
He said in an effort to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) the British Airways introduced the ‘On Business’ programme that benefits both the company and the individual entrepreneur.
The aim of the campaign is to use a range of channels to raise awareness and increase membership of the programme, which enables entrepreneurial businesses to either earn points or receive an immediate discount on flights.
“This is something we started to explore some years ago. We thought that we could give small businesses something back on their travel investment, so we developed a programme called On Business,” he said.
According to him, although the programme was not perfect it was a step in the right direction.
“In an effort to improve the programme the British Airways did some research, focused on both fast-growing markets such as India and China as well as established economies like the United States and the United Kingdom,” he noted.
“We found that SMEs travel needs differed markedly from big corporates. Large companies which require huge amounts of domestic, regional and international travel annually tend to plan and budget for it and then negotiate the best deals with airlines,” he added.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eyaqueen Limited, a firm that imports soft furnishing, Mr Nii Afutu Neequaye, lauded the On Business programme introduced by British Airways some years ago.
According to him, his company has been registered on the On Business for about two years and has saved significantly on travel expenses over the period.
He therefore urged British Airways to adopt strategic measures to ensure that the programme was well publicised in the Ghanaian market.