With the start of commercial flights to Ho and Wa airports from Accra, Charles Asare, a former Managing Director of the Ghana Airport Company Limited, believes Ghana is on track to becoming a preferred aviation center and a leader in the air-travel market in West Africa.
Mr Asare noted that “by developing a world-class terminal (terminal 3) at the Kotoka International Airpot, a rehabilitation of the Tamale and Kumasi airports and the introduction of new regional airports in Ho and Wa coupled with a continues improvement safety and service delivery, there is no doubt that Ghana will become a preferred aviation hub in the subregion”.
The former GACL boss’ comment comes on the back of the announcement of the local carrier, Passion Air, to begin commercial flights through Ho and Wa beginning Saturday, December 4, 2021.
This will be the first time an airline will fly the route commercially after the Ho Airport was completed in 2018.
The $25 million project, which was scheduled for completion in September 2016, actually concluded in 2018 with a 1,900-metre runway, a traffic control tower, a 1,150-capacity passenger waiting area, an ultramodern airbus terminal, and an automatic fire detection and control system.
Another local carrier, Africa World Airline, conducted test flights to Ho in mid-2021 with a promise to begin commercial travel on the route in June 2021, but that did not hold.
Passion Air’s operation of the route will cut travel time of about 5 hours (traffic inclusive) from Accra to Ho by road to about 20 to 30 minutes by air.
Coupled with the bad nature of the roads leading to the Volta Region, which is an acclaimed tourist destination, it is expected that the route will see maximum patronage from locals resident in Accra who will visit home regularly and tourists who have stayed away from the area due to the nature of the roads.
Mr. Asare, speaking during an inaugural flight to Ho on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, urged Passion Air to develop more routes from Ho to other regional capitals and even to neighbouring countries.
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