The government is reportedly preparing to reveal the name of a new partner to establish a national flag carrier by the end of July 2022.
This is according to the news portal, Aviation Ghana.
Such an announcement would bring to an end, Ghana’s lack of a national airline after the collapse of Ghana Airways, which was run aground with corruption and nepotism.
According to the portal, four companies – Ashanti Airlines, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines (EA) and financial firm JNH Group – have been penciled as potential partners.
Ashanti Airlines is owned by local business magnates Osei Kwame Despite, co-founder of the Despite Group of Companies and his partner, Ernest Ofori Sarpong. EgyptAir, the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt, operates from its hub at Cairo International Airport.
Based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines is an East-African airline and aviation group, and JNH Group is a Ghanaian management consultancy firm and brokerage.
AviationGhana quotes sources as saying that Osei Kwame Despite’s Ashanti Airlines is likely to win the bid even though the company is now working on an operating license from the Ghana Civil Aviation (GCAA).
Overseeing the selection process for the new partner is a committee designated by Kweku Ofori Asiamah, Ghana’s Minister for Transport, according to the report by AviationGhana.
Tracing events so far, the portal reports that in 2016, the Ghanaian government put forward an invitation to international airlines interested in partnering to establish and launch an Accra-based flag carrier.
Airlines such as Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritius and Africa World Air, were among the parties that expressed their interest.
After a year-long selection process, the Ministry of Transport selected Ethiopian Airlines (EA) as a suitor.
According to reports, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Ethiopian Airlines and the Ghanaian government in December 2018, which was followed up by the signing of a strategic partnership agreement in May 2019.
At the time, EA had already partnered with the governments of Zambia, Chad and Guinea to launch new carriers and had established a regional hub in Lome, Togo.
The new airline, intended for domestic, regional and international services, was expected to commence operations by the end of 2019 or early 2020, a source close to the matter told The Reporter.
However, according to reports, disputes surrounding key issues, such as flight routes, flight frequencies, financing and management tenures, arose between the Ghanaian government and EA.
The government went on to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EgyptAir in October 2020 over “more favourable terms”, according to Business Insider Africa. The deal was subject to parliamentary approval from the Ghanaian government.
In November 2019, the Ghanaian government signed a provisional order at the Dubai Airshow to acquire three Boeing 787 Dreamliner, hinting at the future airline’s desire to accommodate long-haul routes.
The new flag carrier’s routes within Africa are expected to be serviced by a fleet of up to six Dash 8-400 aircraft.