President John Mahama has expressed some glimmer of hope concerning the establishment of a new national airline. The president says his government is working tirelessly to make this dream a reality.
Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony of the construction of the new terminal three building at the Kotoka internal airport, president Mahama said plans to set up a new national airline under a PPP arrangement was in the pipe line and will soon see the light of day.
“Governments plan to set up a new national airline under a PPP arrangement to support the policy-objective of establishing KIA as an aviation hub is on-going. It is my expectation therefore that terminal three will play a pivotal role to support the operations of this new airline” the president said.
Steps for the establishment of a new national airline began in 2014 after the collapse of a state-owned airlines-Ghana Airways and the Ghana International Airlines.
The ministry of transport selected a company- Price Water Company (PWC) for a tender process to do the initial feasibility studies for the establishment of the new national airline. The initial process was financed by the World Bank as part of a US$30 million PPP programme facility.
The World Bank in the long run withdrew its financial support in the process for Ghana to establish a new flag-carrier.
Despite this backdrop, the government of Ghana under president Mahama has been relentless in its efforts to establish a new national airline.
The construction of the new terminal will augment the establishment of the new national airline.
As is known Ghana is positioning itself to be an aviation hub in the sub-region and cannot boast of achieving this if she does not have a state-owned airline to top it up.
By David Acquah
