Tamale, Jan. 21, GNA - The Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Mohammed Amin Adam has said that the successful landing of international flights at the Tamale Airport should be a yard stick to upgrade it to become Ghana's second international airport.

"The successful landing of international flights at the Tamale Airport is a testimony of what Tamale can do for the nation's development. That is why it is necessary for the Central Government to consider upgrading the airport into a reliable second international airport," he said.

Mr Adam told the GNA Sports in an interview in Tamale on Sunday after he had received the Senegalese national team at the Tamale Airport.

"Many were those who did not believe that international flights could fly directly and land in Tamale. South Africa landed safely on Saturday and on Sunday Senegal too has landed and they were all of praise to Tamale," he explained.

Mr Adam said when the Tamale airport was upgraded into an international status, Hajj flights could originate from there and thus avoiding the inhuman treatment meted out pilgrims, who were compelled to travel down to Accra to go and sleep in the open. He said Boeing International from South Africa has expressed its interest in investing in Tamale due to its emerging business environment and the beautiful landscape while other business entities also wanted to use Tamale as a business hub to other countries in the West African Sub-Region.

Mr Adam said apart from the vast land available for expanding the airport, it was also shorter to travel from Tamale to Europe and the Sahel countries to transact businesses.

He said: "Tamale has already reaped some fruits from the CAN 2008 and the upgrading of the airport would be a further boost to the Region's development."

He commended the people of the Region for thronging the airport in their numbers to welcome the various teams and urged them to continue to accord the visitors with the Ghanaian hospitality during and after the tournament to justify the Region's inclusion to host the event. Earlier on Sunday, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister and Mr Amin Adam met the Senegalese national team, who flew direct from Burkina-Faso in a Senegalese International Airlines (Republic De Senegal) with their supporters.

There was a massive crowd at the airport to welcome the players and their officials just as they did with the arrival of the South African team. 21 Jan. 08