The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) says it anticipates a 10 percent growth in the aviation sub-sector next year.

The growth, it said, will be driven by an increase in the number of dedicated cargo carriers and the number of passenger carriers flying into the country.

“There is going to be an Air Services Negotiation (ICAN) conference at the end of the month, where we are going to meet various countries to renew bilateral agreements.

“Several countries have indicated that they want to have such arrangements with us. I know certainly there is going to be more cargo and passenger carriers in 2013,” Air Commodore (rtd.) Victor Kwame Mamphey, Director-General of the GCAA, said.

He told the B&FT that “we are expecting about 10 percent growth [in the aviation sector],” Air Commodore Mamphey was speaking to the B&FT on the tarmac of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) as GCAA officials welcomed the maiden flight of CargoLux’s new Boeing 747-800 Freighter to Accra.

Projections by the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) also show that air passenger traffic is expected to hit six million by 2015, from 1.8 million in 2011.

Marwan Traboulsi, Chairman of Air Ghana, local agents for CargoLux, said: “The arrival of the new Boeing 747-800 Freighter demonstrates the high importance that both Cargolux and Air Ghana place on their regular high volume air cargo movements both to and from Ghana, serving the highly important and developing agricultural, mining and oil and gas sectors of the country’s growing economy.”

Ghana Air and Cargolux are the first to operate the Boeing 747-800 Freighter in the country. The new aircraft can handle 139 tonnes of cargo -- 10 more pallets than a normal cargo plane. The aircraft is expected to operate twice weekly services to and from Accra.

The Boeing 747-800 Freighter is a new high-capacity 747 that offers airlines the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance.

The airplane represents a new benchmark in fuel efficiency and noise reduction, allowing airlines to lower fuel costs and fly into more airports at more times of the day.