Africa World Airlines (AWA) has now ventured into the Francophone air transport market with the introduction of a new route to Abidjan. The new destination brings to ten the total number of destinations plied by the carrier.  The 10 destinations include all five major airports in Ghana and five other destinations within West Africa; Abuja, Lagos Monrovia, Freetown and the latest being Abidjan. Speaking to JoyBusiness at the maiden flight ceremony, Togbe Afede, founder of AWA said the airline will continue to expand into new destinations as it looks to acquire four more aircraft this year. “Abidjan will be our tenth destination and it’s very important to us because of the significance of its economy in West Africa.  “Barring any further challenges from the coronavirus, we should be getting our ninth aircraft next month, tenth aircraft before the middle of the year and two bigger aircraft before the end of the year,” he disclosed. This, Togbe Afede said will enable the Africa World Airlines to venture into newer markets like Dakar and Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Meanwhile, Fred Laryea, Ghana’s Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire has expressed confidence about the new route boosting economic activity between the two countries especially in the wake of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.  “We have signed strategic partnership agreements with Cote d’Ivoire under which we have agreed to work in various fields like agriculture and energy where we can be exporting and importing energy as and when necessary.” He added, “So this airline is good for our people to come in and out to do business as it suits them. Also with the setting up of the African Continental Free trade Area Agreement, this will be a boost for the private sector by facilitating transportation.” Chief Operations Officer of Africa World Airlines Sean Mendez was also confident the new route and other destinations to come will help boost the airlines’ passenger numbers by some 15 to 20 per cent. Africa World Airline will be doing six flights weekly on the Accra-Abidjan route.