The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has served notice that flights that have been booked in the Christmas festive period may have to be canceled due to the behavior of the weather.
Ghana is currently in the harmatan period and the characteristic dry winds and dust have left a hazy visibility which do not inure to good flight. The GCAA warns that if the harmatan weather worsens, which is likely to be the case in the coming days, it will direct for flights to be canceled.
In the notification, the GCAA also warns that if the weather worsens into visibility below GCAA’s prescribed aerodrome operating minimal even the better case scenario would be that flights would generally be delayed.
The harmatan is expected to have a severe effect on the Kumasi, Tamale and Wa airports which are in the Northern sector of the Accra flight information region.
This year’s version as usual started to intensify from November. Harmattan is a season in West Africa, which occurs between the end of November and the middle of March.
It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade winds, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara Desert, mobilize sandstorm, over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.
The name is related to the word “haramata” in the Twi language. The temperature is cold in most places, but can also be hot in certain places, depending on local circumstances.