The Deputy Minister for Aviation, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, has revealed that this year, three more domestic airlines will start operations in the country.

He indicated that the ministry in collaboration with its agencies was also promoting the aviation sector through modernization of the country’s airports.

“Currently, the ministry is facilitating the establishment of a home-based carrier and has planned for the development of maintenance, repairs and overhaul (MRO) facility as an integral part of the Tamale International Airport . . .” he added.

He continued: “It is also a vision of the ministry to facilitate the creation of airports in all the regions, including Western Region, to connect and open up the country for tourism and promote trade within the sub region”.

He also mentioned that as part of innovation and globalization, Ghana was poised to make its airport even smatter. “In this regard, the Terminal 3 at the Kotoka Airport has installed state-of-the-art equipment with the latest technology for airport management”, he added.

He explained that the installed and the autonomous systems would support the day to day work of the staff and that the advancement in technology would further propel the image of the country.

The Deputy Aviation Minister stated this at the 5th graduation and matriculation ceremony by Anchor Aviation and Professional College in Takoradi.

He pointed out that the outlook for Ghana’s aviation sector was bright with many exciting prospects. He mentioned that growth in the aviation industry in Africa was forecast at averagely 6.5 per cent whilst growth in Ghana was hovering around 7.9 per cent.

The deputy minister indicated that the benefits from the growing aviation sector extended beyond airlines and airports, adding “many sectors like tourism, logistics and trade depend on an efficient and growing aviation sector to prosper”.

According to him, for civil aviation to thrive, airlines needed the assurance that they could continue to operate in a business environment with balanced, predictable and rational policies and regulations.

“This calls for strategic positioning on the part of aviation training schools to partner government and to create synergy in the development of courses to meet the demand of the industry”, he stated.

Mr. Darko-Mensah, who is also the Member of Parliament for Takoradi, stressed that with the existing enabling environment in the aviation industry, venturing into fields such as aviation fueling, aircraft maintenance and airport catering services as well as aircraft part sales and private jet charter should not be difficult.

“We are aware of the enormous burden of training schools with regard to financing their operations to continue to churn out professionals to feed the industry”, he added.

To this end, the deputy revealed that the Minister for Aviation had charged the Director of Ghana Aviation Training Academy (GATA) to lead the formation of an association of all aviation training institutions.

“This is to encourage you to have collective voice to articulate matters pertaining to the association and also promote collaboration among members,” he asserted.