Aviation: Ghana’s hub ambitions and regional competition

Amanda Afia Kosi, Accra, Ghana
February March 10, 2024

T he government of Ghana wants to turn the country into the aviation hub of West Africa. The 2020 transport outlines this ambitions and the steps to achieve it. An airport hub connects airports to other transport modes. Passengers and cargo have the option to transfer to and from other modes of transport, such as trains, bus, or trucks. Aviation hubs generate high flight frequency if they have modern logistics capability.

Technology, compliance with transport regulations and excellent customer service make a hub competitive. The time zone, skilled workforce, performing ports and geographical position make Ghana attractive. In this market, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are formidable competitors. In West Africa, Nigeria has the largest internal market for hubs. Ghana must also pay attention to Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Benin; three neighbors that are equally ambitious.

Ghana is looking for technical expertise in aviation and investors. The country needs US$200 million dollars to build its aviation hub. This amount does not include the cost of the acquisition of aircraft.

Airports

Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra handles both domestic and international travels. The airport handles over 800,000 passengers and 50,000 tons of freight per year. KIA has regular international and regional flights to 25 destinations. Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways, and Delta Airlines operate flights to and from KIA. Other airlines flying from and to KIA are Emirates, Kenya Airways, and KLM. Besides, 11 cargo airlines operate flights from KIA.

Ghana has flights to four domestic destinations. The Accra-Kumasi-Accra is the busiest with 85 round trip flights per week. Accra-Tamale-Accra follows with 53 round trip flights per week and Sunyani-none. The least used destination is the Accra-Takoradi-Accra route with 32 round trip flights per week.

Tamale and Kumasi airports meet the standards of international airports after an extensive upgrade between 2018-2020. Domestic passenger traffic increased by 7 percent per annum after the renovations and upgrades.

Infrastructure gap

Ghana faces a stiff competition from African countries. Nigeria, for example, has 32 airports, five of which are functional international airports. South Africa has 22 international airports. Ethiopia has 19 airports, one of which Addis Ababa (ADD) is the biggest hub in Sub-Saharan Africa. ADD offers flights to 118 destinations in 69 countries. In Accra, Ethiopian Airlines is the biggest operators Kotoka International Airport (KIA). Kenya is not far behind with 16 airports.

Ethiopian Airlines leads with aircraft fleet. It has 147 aircraft of various sizes. These include 20 long range Airbus A350 and 40 medium range Boeing. The airline also has 15 Boeing for long range cargo services. Kenya Airways has 32 aircraft while Nigeria has 71. Compared to peers, Ghana has 29 aircraft, including 2 Airbus (320 and 330).

Also, compared to African competitors, Ghana has one international airport (KIA) and four regional airports. But Ghana has captured 10 percent of the aviation market in West Africa. In the sub-region, Nigeria leads with 57 percent of the market¹

Hub strategies

The size of its population and their spending power continue to constrain the growth of a small domestic aviation market. The maximum duration of an internal flight is under three hours. The market for domestic long-haul flights does not exist.

KIA geographical position and time zone make Ghana a competitive location for long-haul connections from other African countries (Kenya and South Africa). In the race to become a regional aviation hub, KIA is a regional contender and an attractive candidate for alliances with large airlines.

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