Accra, Aug. 16, GNA - The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Wednesday said it was not true that persons, who travelled through the VIP Lounge at the Kotoka International Airport, did not go through immigration procedures.

A release issued by the Public Affairs Department of the GCAA said it was also not true that travellers could easily evade immigration procedures through several entry points to the airside of the Airport. Reacting to a statement in the media attributed to Mr Fredrick Coleman, an Assistant Director of Immigration Services, who was formerly stationed at the Airport, the release said travel documents of all persons travelling through the VIP lounge were processed through Immigration by staff of the State Protocol Department stationed at the Lounge.

It said in addition hand or cabin luggage as well as the VIPs were screened by x-ray and metal detectors.

The release said there were also strict procedures concerning immigration processes for travellers using the VIP Lounge saying, "immigration officers need not necessarily be stationed at the Lounge". It said Mr Coleman's claim that travellers could evade immigration procedures by making use of one of several entry and exit points to the airside of the Airport was not true.

The release said apart from the two departure points made up of the main departure hall which was manned by both immigration and security personnel and the VIP Lounge, which was manned by only aviation security personnel, all other access points were service points and not departure points, adding that only people with special passes could access those points.

It said there had also been no record of complaints from any person for the absence of immigration officers at the VIP Lounge as Mr Coleman alleged.

The release said procedures at KIA were absolutely in line with Article 23 of the Chicago Convention of 1944 on international civil aviation.

"We hope that this explanation will set the records straight and erase the erroneous impression created by the media report," the release said.