The infamously nicknamed “Ghana Must Go” bags have been banned by Ethiopian Airlines in Nigeria from their flights.
The luggage got the nickname in Nigeria in the 1980s, when hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, many of whom were Ghanaian, were expelled.People fled with the red-and-blue checked bags on their backs.
Now, the airline says, the ubiquitous carriers, a favourite of traders, can badly affect airport equipment.
The Airlines in a statement signed by Henok Gizachew, the airline’s manager of airport services, addressed to the regional manager of the Federal Airports Authority Of Nigeria (FAAN), said the ban was introduced because of “the frequent occurrence of damages to the conveyor belts at various airports, resulting in significant costs incurred by the airlines involved”.
“Please be informed that effective November 25, 2023, the usage of Ghana Must Go to travel on our flight is hereby prohibited,” the letter dated November 24 reads.
“The use of Ghana Must Go as a means of packing baggage has cost the airlines huge loss and also damaging the conveyor belt system, not only on out flight but also on other foreign airlines, hence the prohibition.”
However, the airline offered a reprieve for users of the bag to continue to use them to package their luggage on the condition that they must be well packed in cartons of a hardcover of rectangular size, the statement read.
Ethiopia Airlines operates several domestic and regional routes out of Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos.
|BBC News
