Story ID: 014regionalsupdateAINApril12.doc
Falko Taps African Market
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: 
Word Count: 169
Accra, Ghana-based Aero Surveys, operating under the commercial name Starbow, plans to lease two more BAe 146 regional jetliners starting in May. The aircraft, one BAe 146-300 and one BAe 146-200, will double its fleet size to four aircraft and will add capacity to satisfy increasing demand.
  
Starbow started domestic operations in Ghana last September with a flight to the domestic center Kumasi. Experiencing dramatic traffic growth since then, it now uses its pair of BAe 146-300s to serve Kumasi with 16 flights a week, Tamale with seven flights a week and Takoradi with five flights a week.
  
Regionally, Starbow plans during this year’s second quarter to offer direct air services from Accra to the capital cities Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, Monrovia in Liberia and Cotonou in Benin.
  
Starbow has agreed to lease the aircraft from British Virgin Islands-based Riva Investments, which bought them from Falko Regional Aircraft, the UK-based successor to BAE Systems Asset Management.