The Director General of the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority, Madam Musayeroh Barrie, has said flights to Sierra Leone are set to increase to 50 by next month. Madam Barrie made this announcement at the weekly government press briefing on Tuesday.
Madam Barrie, who will be a year in office next month, has made tremendous progress to attract flights to Sierra Leone while also considering compliance.
“When I came in, I met with my team, and we tried to figure out what we can do to encourage flights to come to Sierra Leone while keeping in focus compliance,” she said.
Madam Barrie said when she took over, flight frequency to the country was 37 per week.
“We have worked hard to increase flight frequency to Sierra Leone. When I took over almost a year ago, we had a flight frequency of 37 per week. Right now, with the introduction of the Ethiopian airline, our flight frequency is 47.”
She added, “I’m happy to announce that, come October, Brussels Airlines will increase their flight frequency from three times a week to five times a week; this will take our overall frequency up to 50 times per week, which is a big achievement for the sector.”
But this is not the only significant achievement. Madam Barrie said they are in talks with two flights that will provide direct connectivity to the region.
“Well, we are happy to announce that we are in talks with two airlines that will provide direct connectivity from Sierra Leone to Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and other countries in the region,” the Director General announced.
Connectivity in the region is a problem; traveling from Sierra Leone to neighboring Liberia takes a minimum of 9 hours, and passengers will have to transit through Accra and Lome before getting to Monrovia.
Sierra Leone is bracing up for the peak period of travel, which is December. Madam Barrie said they are working to get some charter flights that will connect from London to Freetown. She is optimistic that in the next two to three months the country could see some progress on this.
