Ghana is pressing ahead with plans to rename Kotoka International Airport (KIA), establish a new national airline, build a new air traffic control tower and link its major airport terminals in a coordinated push to position the country as the premier aviation hub in West Africa, Transport Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe has announced.
The minister outlined the agenda at the official launch of activities marking the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority’s (GCAA) 40th anniversary at the authority’s headquarters at KIA on Monday, February 16, describing each initiative as interlocking elements of a single strategy rather than standalone projects.
The most significant of the linked disclosures is the relationship between the airport renaming and the national airline revival. Nikpe said the proposed change of KIA’s name to Accra International Airport, first announced by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga on February 3 and requiring legislation to be tabled in Parliament by the Transport Ministry, is a prerequisite for re-establishing a national carrier. He said the renaming would create the institutional space necessary for the planned revival of a Ghana Airways-branded airline, which government hopes to have operational within the coming months.
Construction of a new air traffic control tower at KIA is already underway and is on course for completion by the end of 2026, according to GCAA Director-General Rev. Stephen Woford Arthur. The existing tower, which Arthur described at the authority’s 39th anniversary in May 2025 as having exceeded its operational lifespan, will be replaced by a facility equipped with advanced navigation and surveillance technology capable of managing traffic across the Accra Flight Information Region, which covers Ghana and extends across several neighbouring countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
A connecting concourse linking Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 at KIA is also planned, intended to ease congestion at Terminal 3 during peak hours and enable Terminal 2 to handle a broader mix of domestic and international passengers simultaneously.
Beyond KIA, regional airports at Wa and Tamale are being upgraded to meet international standards. Tamale Airport is also being prepared to support Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities, while Ho Airport has been designated for pilot training programmes. The developments are designed to improve air connectivity across all six administrative zones of Ghana rather than concentrating aviation capacity solely in Accra.
Nikpe said government has also invested in advanced air navigation and surveillance systems, traffic management facilities, security technology and training infrastructure to strengthen Ghana’s airspace management and regulatory capability. The Ghana Civil Aviation Amendment Act, 2016 (Act 906) has aligned Ghana’s regulatory framework with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conventions, the minister noted, while the decoupling of airport management from regulatory oversight has sharpened accountability across both functions.
GCAA Board Chairman Ing. Simon Allotey described the 2006 separation of airport operations from regulation as the most transformative institutional reform in the authority’s four-decade history. Arthur, who leads an authority with origins dating to a 1930 unit within the Public Works Department that was formalised in 1986 under PNDC Law 151, said the 40th anniversary represented an opportunity to recommit to the highest standards of safety, security and regulatory compliance.
The GCAA ranked first among 60 state-owned enterprises assessed and placed second overall among all public sector entities in the 2023 Public Enterprise Awards, a recognition Nikpe attributed to strong governance and financial discipline.
The authority is also preparing for forthcoming ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP-CMA) assessments and plans to introduce a Consumer Complaints Portal alongside Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Records systems as part of its ongoing modernisation programme.
The 40th anniversary will be formally commemorated in May 2026.
