President Akufo-Addo has appointed Ing. Charles Kraikue as the new acting Director General for the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), to replace Ing. Simon Allotey who will be proceeding on retirement at the end of this month (31st July 2020). Mr. Kraikue is the immediate past Deputy Director-General, and will be in an acting role per his appointment letter from the Presidency.
Prior to his appointment as Director-General of GCAA in 2015, Mr. Allotey was Ghana’s Representative on the ICAO Council from 2009 to 2010, and served as a member on ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission (ANC) from 2011 to 2015. Ing. Allotey is a long-standing fellow of the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE), and also served variously as Deputy Director of Engineering, Director of Engineering, Deputy Director-General (Technical) and as Acting. Director- General of GCAA from1996 to 2007.
Following the decoupling of airport operations from aviation regulation and air navigation services provision, Mr. Allotey maintained concurrent oversight of the newly-created Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) from January to September 2007, until a substantive managing director was appointed for GACL.
Under his leadership Ghana’s aviation industry has recorded phenomenal growth, with a thriving domestic sector and over 35 international airlines serving Ghana. The country also attained an Effective Implementation (EI) score of 89.89% – the highest by an African country at the time – after ICAO concluded its safety audit in April 2019. In recognition of Ghana’s progress in resolving aviation security and safety oversight deficiencies, and the country’s commitment to the Effective Implementation (EI) of its Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS), ICAO conferred its prestigious Council President Certificates in Aviation Safety and Security on Ghana at its 40th Triennial Assembly in Montreal, Canada.
Owing to his in-depth knowledge and experience in the aviation industry, he was nominated to chair several international high profile meetings: including the Technical Commission, ICAO 40th Triennial Assembly in Montreal, Canada, 2019; the Safety Committee at the 13th ICAO Air Navigation Conference, Montreal Canada, 2018; ICAO’s Regional Aviation Safety Group for Africa (RASG-AFI), December 2015 – 2018 etc. His retirement brings to an end a successful career in the Aviation industry spanning over 24 years.
Ing. Charles Kraikue, the incoming Director-General, brings to the role extensive experience, having served as Deputy Director General (Technical) for the past two years. In this role, he led the transformation of GCAA’s air traffic management systems and enhanced safety within the Accra Flight Information Region (FIR). This included the replacement of all ageing communications, Navigation and Surveillance facilities within the FIR, which had been in service for two decades. He also served previously as Electrical Manager and as Director, Air traffic Safety Engineering of the Authority between 2007- 2018.
Outgoing GCAA DG, Ing. Simon Allotey
Acting GCAA DG, Ing. Charles Kraikue
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