The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has mounted a detailed defence of its decision to terminate McDan Aviation’s operating licence at Kotoka International Airport, rejecting allegations of contract violations and insisting that court processes were not breached at the time it cleared the Terminal 1 facility.
In a formal statement issued in Accra on Friday, the airport authority said the licence held by McDan Aviation Handling Services Limited was terminated on January 16, 2026, following repeated demands for the settlement of outstanding financial obligations made between January 2025 and January 2026. GACL said the company had used state assets for years while failing to make required payments, resulting in direct revenue losses to the state.
The airport authority said it formally notified McDan Aviation on January 27 and again on February 12 that any payments received after the termination date would be treated solely as settlement of outstanding debt and would not trigger reinstatement of the contract. Despite those notifications, a payment was made in February that GACL said covered only approximately half of the total sum owed.
Beyond the Terminal 1 dispute, GACL disclosed that the broader McDan Group owes substantial sums connected to roughly 16 acres of land it occupies within the airport enclave. According to the airport authority, the company has not paid a heavily discounted principal amount of approximately US$4 million for subleased land, yet has developed portions of that land with commercial properties currently being rented out to third parties.
On the central allegation that it defied a court order, GACL said legal documents filed by McDan Aviation were only brought to its management’s attention on the morning of March 11, 2026. By that time, the removal of all items from the designated areas in Terminal 1 had already been completed the previous day, on March 10. The airport authority further clarified that the court documents served on it comprised a writ and a motion on notice, but contained no sealed injunction or restraining order prohibiting the removal of items from the premises.
GACL warned other airport tenants that it would apply the same debt recovery approach to any business that fails to honour financial obligations, signalling that the McDan case is intended to set a precedent for commercial discipline across the airport’s tenant base.
The airport authority said it had filed its response to McDan Aviation’s suit and remained committed to upholding the rule of law while protecting national assets under its mandate.
McDan Aviation maintains that its licence agreement required GACL to provide 90 days’ notice before any eviction, a clause it says was entirely ignored. GACL has not addressed the 90-day notice argument in its public statements. The company has said it is pursuing all available legal remedies, including a contempt of court action, and the matter is now before the courts.
