Ho, April 5, GNA – Mr. Alexander Nketia, Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority, (GTA) has said a well-developed road transportation infrastructure was required to sustain the commercial operation of the Ho Airport.
The absence of standard private and commercial road transport systems discouraged potential fliers from ditching their vehicles for the shorter air trip. 
The Regional Director made the comments to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the back of the recent withdrawal of the lone commercial air service to the airport, Passion Air. 
Passion Air, in a statement, announced a temporary end to its flights to the Region, citing rising aviation fuel costs, and the downslide of the local currency. 
Management of the airline also mentioned a pressing request by the Ghana Airports Company to establish an operational office in the Ho Municipality. 
The Airline, barely months ago, became the first to commercialise the long-completed airport, and its entry was considered a response to the requests of many in the Region, including the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA). 
Mr. Nketia said the withdrawal should not be seen as an attempt to sacrifice service to the Region, as the Airline was only offering promotional flights. 
He added that patronage of the promotional flights had also not progressed as expected and blamed that on low advertisement. 
Mr. Nketia said vehicle rentals and ride-hailing services remained in limited availability and affected the development also of the tourism industry in the Region as a whole. 
With recent efforts at Internet penetration, mobile app-based ride service Bolt, recently made a debut in the city, and Mr. Nketia was hopeful others would follow soon. 
He expressed optimism over the rebound of the tourism sector following the easing on coronavirus restrictions including border closures.