FLASHBACK: Ghana Airlines not ready to fly despite initial assurances

Ghana Airlines, a public-private initiative by the Government of Ghana to operationalize a home-based carrier, is still not ready to fly despite initial assurances that the airline would start selling tickets in April and May and commence commercial flights by June-July 2023.

Ashanti Airlines and its financial partner, Zotus Group, won the tender to commence business last year and earnestly began processes to acquire the requisite certification from the aviation sector regulator, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

Ashanti Airlines, which already had an Air Carrier License (ACL) before the award of the tender, filed its documentation with the GCAA for an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) — the second such certification mandated by law before an airline is fully established and can start commercial scheduled and non-scheduled flights.

“My information from them is that by the end of May, they will start selling their tickets, and by June/July, we will see Ghana Airlines flying in the sky,” the GNA quoted the Transport Minister, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, in a story published on March 30, 2023.

Ashanti Airlines and its financial partner, Zotus Group, led by former footballer Emile Heskey, have yet to launch their logo and make tickets available for sale.

Information obtained by AviationGhana.com indicates that Ashanti Airlines and its partner are yet to complete the required processes to obtain an AOC and yet to acquire aircraft.

Ashanti Airlines is backed by Ghanaian business mogul and co-founder of the Despite Group of Companies, Osei Kwame Despite, and his partner, Ernest Ofori Sarpong.

Ghana has been without a national airline since the collapse of Ghana International Airlines in 2010, following the demise of Ghana Airways in 2004. Attempts to establish a new home-based carrier have led to the signing of MoUs with Ethiopian Airlines and EgyptAir, respectively, with no clear outcome.

This led to the establishment of a new committee to vet all proposals after the erstwhile Ministry of Aviation was subsumed into the Ministry of Transport.

This story was first published on September 9, 2023 by AviationGhana