Earlier this week Lufthansa won a Skytrax 5-star award. One of the things that Skytrax looks at most when evaluating an airline is consistency, and airlines lose points if more than 80% of their fleet doesn’t feature that consistent experience. A key factor in Lufthansa being awarded a 5-star rating was also their plans to install a new business class product in 2020. Yeah, let that sink in for a moment.
But Lufthansa isn’t the only airline winning big awards. At the prestigious Quality Excellence Awards at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra this past weekend, Goldstar Air has won the award for being the most promising airline of the year.
I always like to stay on top of new airline startups, so some of you may remember that I first wrote about Goldstar Air a bit over a year ago, as they planned on launching flights between Accra and Baltimore in the first quarter of 2017.
The airline had big expansion plans, including setting up hubs in London and the Caribbean (as one does):
Our European hub will be Stansted airport which will service flights going to Accra and the Caribbean, making some pick ups in some European cities before its destination in the Caribbean. Our hub in the Caribbean will service flights to Baltimore and Stansted. whiles the Accra hub services West Africa, Dubai and Guangzhou, Baltimore hub will as well service flights to Accra and the Caribbean.
Whether you’re looking to fly to Guangzhou, Iraq, or Dakar, South Carolina, Goldstar Air has you covered.
Nevermind the fact that the Global Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has issued a warning about how Goldstar Air is misleading consumers, and advises consumers not to do business with them.
With that background out of the way, lets take a look at how Goldstar won this prestigious award:
The decision of Awarding the airline for a quality service Excellence Award was arrived at having carefully evaluated the business performance, the strives for the highest customer satisfaction which characterizes strong positive relationship through mutual support and respect for their existing loyalty, conduct and achievement during the year under review.
The award scheme is a prestigious annual scheme, which cuts across the whole of Ghana with the aim of centralizing the strength and relationship that exists between customers and organizations.
I mean, I guess they’re onto something. Goldstar Air has had zero flight cancelations and zero customer complaints in all of 2017. There aren’t many airlines that can say that.
Here’s what Goldstar Air’s executive chairman had to say about the award:
According to the Executive Chairman, Mr. Eric Bannerman, the airline’s great work has increasingly being recognized, which mark another milestone for Goldstar Air and is a testament of the diligent execution of the Airline Strategic initiative to leverage its local and global exposure as well as presence to drive positive change in the country and African as a whole for smooth take off.
Next up, I think Baltia/US Global Airways stands a good chance of being the 11th airline to win a Skytrax 5-star rating!
(Tip of the hat to Sean M.)
From Ghana to the World!
@KRS Two:
Scheme can mean either of those in American vernacular based on the context. It doesn't always carry the negative connotation. Likewise, I've heard many of my British friends use the term to mean "scam", as well.
I didn’t think a string of words could be made to say that. And yet they are.
@JRMW, that's cute, but for anyone who might be interested, in British English, "scheme" doesn't carry a negative connotation as it does in American English. It just means "program." I once did some archival research on trade talks between Canada and the U.S. concerning the automobile industry, which eventually led to the Auto Pact between them in 1965. The original talks were due to a crisis when Canada adopted a "duty drawback scheme" in 1963....
@JRMW, that's cute, but for anyone who might be interested, in British English, "scheme" doesn't carry a negative connotation as it does in American English. It just means "program." I once did some archival research on trade talks between Canada and the U.S. concerning the automobile industry, which eventually led to the Auto Pact between them in 1965. The original talks were due to a crisis when Canada adopted a "duty drawback scheme" in 1963. In the Canadian files, there was actually a memo telling their negotiators not to use the term "scheme" when talking to the Americans, because of the negative connotation it has in the U.S. but not in Canada.
End of history lesson. As George Bernard Shaw said, Britain and the U.S. are two countries divided by a common language. And of course the same is true of the other users of British English.
China got some new territory in the Middle East! Guangzhou is moving!
“The award scheme is a prestigious annual scheme”
Classic!
Truer words never spoken.
It’s quite the scheme
This "award" was not from Skytrax. It was some sort of local Ghanian thing.
And I’ve been nominated for the Man Booker prize for the finest work of fiction in 2017 although I’ve not written a book
Hahaha given so much future promise I am amazed Skytrax hasn’t given them 5 stars already. Perhaps not enough funding....
So is the Caribbean hub going to be in Banjul-Gambia, Bahamas or in Conakry-Guinea, Dominica?
I never knew Dakar Senegal was so close to Atlanta
Can't believe people here never went to the incredible city of Guangzhou-China in Iraq.
Friendly people everywhere, awesome General Bomb Chicken and they also get very excited when see people wearing anything with a US flag.
Apparently I now live in Dakar. I am so glad as I was not looking forward to another Washington DC winter. Nice of them to move DC to Minnesota where it belongs.
Looks like they need to hire a graphic designer, and figure out where Guangzhou is.
An awesome read for Friday afternoon (also went through the one Lucky posted previously, as one does).
"setting up hubs in London and the Caribbean (as one does)"
This is gold.
I like all the countries in Africa that are now in South America and the USA.
Uhm, where are the wheels?
The first step to flying to Guangzhou is learning where it is!