Ms. Felicia Attipoe, Airside Operations Officer, has called on players in the aviation industry to leverage technology as a catalyst for innovation. “We need to be innovative in our work, and technology must be the catalyst in this direction,” she said. Ms.

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Attipoe made the call when the Ladies of the Airside Operations Section of Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) marked this year’s  International Women’s Day in Accra. The event was on the theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” with focus on ‘the Role of Women in Advancing the Growth of GACL – The case of Airside Operations; Achievements and Challenges.’ Ms.

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Attipoe, who is a Representative of Airside Ladies Group, highlighted the many contributions of women within the aviation space despite challenges these women faced on the job and appealed for management’s support. Mr. Charles Hanson Adu, Group Executive, Airports Management Department, highlighted the importance of the airside within the aviation architecture and the invaluable contribution of women over the years. Mrs.

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Pamela Djamson-Tetteh, the Managing Director GACL, indicated that “the celebration aims at making the case for gender equality and globally advocating a change in attitude toward women.”  She said it was also aimed at highlighting the diverse aspects of a woman’s existence in male-dominated roles, including Aircraft Marshalling in the aviation industry.

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  She commended the Ladies of the Airside Operations Section of Airports Management Department for taking the bold step to observe this special day.

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 The Airside Officer’s role is quite unique and  involves overseeing and coordinating airfield operations at an airport, ensuring the safe and efficient operation of aircraft on the airfield and taxiways, including aircraft arrivals, departures, and ground movements, managing the airfield lighting and marking systems to ensure safe and efficient aircraft operations, including setting up cones and barriers as necessary.

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 Other responsibilities include: overseeing the airfield inspection programme and ensuring that all areas of the airfield meet required safety standards and regulatory requirements, coordinating with air traffic control, ground handling agencies, and other airport stakeholders to ensure seamless airfield operations.

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 The rest are responding to emergency situations, such as aircraft incidents or airfield closures, coordinating with emergency services as needed, monitoring weather conditions, and providing up-to-date information to airlines and other stakeholders as necessary etc The International Women’s Day is a global event organized on March 8 every year to celebrate and recognize women’s accomplishments in various

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disciplines. 

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