The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has said told the Roads and Transport Committee of parliament that government has selected an entity to operate 'GhanaAirlines' as a home-based carrier.

According to him, 'GhanaAirlines' is expected to be operationalized in 2023 and will “fly the flag of Ghana”

The Transport Minister made the remarks after parliament approved GH¢1.2 billion for the Transport Ministry and its agencies to carry out activities for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023.

The amount represents a 33.06 percent increase over the 2022 initial budgetary allocation of GH¢921,483,000.00. The 2022 fiscal year amount was subsequently revised to GH¢832,028,321.00.

As of September 2022, the Transport Ministry had spent GH¢461,824,396.84 according to parliamentary records.

The government recently selected GhanaAirlines as the name of choice for the new home-based carrier of the country.

Ahead of the selection, names such as Akwaaba Airlines, Black Star Airlines, and Kente Airlines were mooted as part of the efforts to get a suitable name that will reflect Ghana’s culture and boost the enterprise.

But the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, presenting the 2023 budget before parliament on November 24, 2022, said, “Mr. Speaker, Shareholders and Partnership Agreements were signed with the selected Strategic Partner for the Home-Based Carrier which will be known as 'GhanaAirlines'."

Although the finance minister did not provide further details about the potential partners and shareholders, it has been reported that Ashanti Airlines has been selected as the preferred choice to partner government for its new home-based carrier.

It is also understood that Ashanti Airlines, which is owned by business moguls, Osei Kwame Despite and his partner, Dr. Ernest Ofori-Sarpong, are nearing processes to complete the financial arrangements before operationalisation begins in 2023.

At the moment, Ashanti Airlines has secured its Air Carrier License (ACL) and is seeking to complete the issuance of its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) which authorizes an operator to undertake specified commercial air transport operations.

Since the collapse of Ghana Airways in 2004 and the subsequent collapse of Ghana International Airlines in 2010, Ghana has been without a national airline for international flight operations.

Despite the signing of several MoUs with Ethiopian Airlines and EgyptAir, moves to re-establish a national carrier hit a snag and this led to the establishment of a new committee to vet all proposals under the former Aviation Ministry, which is now being run by the Ministry of Transport.

MA/FNOQ