The Ministry of Aviation has refuted reports on social media suggesting that President Akufo-Addo will today, November 29 hand over five aircraft to the Ministry to commence the operations of a home-based carrier.

In a statement issued and signed by the Minister for Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda, the claims are false as no agreement has been signed yet with the strategic partner so far identified.

“This would have to get the consent of Cabinet and Parliament. We wish to let the public know that we are at an advanced stage in our negotiations with EgyptAir on a Strategic Partnership arrangement to relaunch a National Flag Carrier but the matter has not yet received Cabinet and certainly not Parliamentary Approval,” the statement explained.

It continued, “These two processes are yet to be carried out, an Air Carrier License (ACL) obtained before an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) granted by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) before we can take delivery of and operate any airline or use any aircraft. It is indeed true that when Cabinet and Parliament finally do respectively approve and ratify the Partnership Agreement, the new Flag Carrier will commence operations with at least five (5) aircraft. However, we wish to state that the President is not yet delivering the aircraft as those processes have not been concluded.”

The Aviation Ministry, therefore, asked the general public to disregard the reports.

Meanwhile, Ghana in October this year signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EgyptAir for the establishment of a new home-based carrier.

According to reports, the choice of Cairo-based EgyptAir as the preferred strategic partner follows a series of engagements with the senior management team of the airline and the committee of aviation experts, constituted by the Aviation Ministry.

Despite the signing of an MoU in 2019 with Ethiopian Airlines to actualise the vision of a new home-based carrier, the deal was held back due to a lack of agreement over key issues such as routes, funding, and tenure of the management contract.