Accra, Dec 6, GNA - The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) would from January 2007 be decoupled into two distinct entities. These would be the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority which would be responsible for Safety Regulation and Air Navigation Services and the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), a limited liability company to be responsible for airports within the country.

Mr Willie Orhin, Acting Deputy Director-General of the GCAA, said this at the inauguration of ground handling equipment worth six million dollars by the Aviation Handling Services Ghana Ltd (AHS) also known as Menzies, on Wednesday in Accra.

From January 2007 all handling companies operating at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) would do business with GACL, which would have its own board of directors and management team, distinct and separate from that of GCAA.

Touching on the equipment, Mr Orhin said with the introduction of AHS, there was now competition in the ground handling business in Ghana 93so that airlines would have a choice between two competent ground handling services=94.

He said recent statistics showed that KIA had a market share of 32 per cent in freight throughput West Africa, placing Ghana in the second position with an average annual tonnage of 50,000 tonnes.

'We in GCAA look forward to the contribution of AHS in achieving our vision of making KIA an aviation hub by 2009,' he said.

The General Manager of AHS Menzies Ghana, Mr Noel Deconink said the Company's aim was to use the significant exposure of KIA to demonstrate its skills.

'Our main emphasis in Ghana is to invest in equipment and training systems. We believe that these are key success factors to improve airport reputation, provide quality, security, safety and reliability.'

In January 2006, AHS was licensed to provide a comprehensive handling service at the KIA, consisting of both passenger and ground handling services.

Before then, the passenger handling was done by the Ghana Handling Company only.