ACCRA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's main Kotoka International Airport (KIA) has been receiving flights diverted from some neighboring countries due to continuing bad weather in western Africa over the past few days, an official told Xinhua here on Friday.
The diversions, which started on Tuesday, were mainly due to the so-called Harmattan condition -- a very dry, dusty windy condition -- caused by northeasterly Sahara trade winds, that engulfs the sub-region from December to February.
"You can see the hazy condition, which affects visibility both on land and in the air," said Eric Amoaning, spokesman for Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). "But we have an efficient functional instrument landing system which aids flights to land successfully."
The current Harmattan condition has been on of the most severe, leading to flight diversions to Ghana, the spokesman said.
"If some of the navigation aids are not functioning properly, airlines will not risk it to attempt a landing. But we have well-functioning navigation aid in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale airports," Amoaning said.
Last October, Airport Council International Kotoka international as the best airport in West Africa and the fourth-best in the world.
Ghana made major investment in upgrading the airports between 2012 and 2017.
