The plan to build a new airport at Ningo-Prampram, which has been in the works since the 80s, is still on government’s mind. However, Aviation Minister Joseph Kofi-Adda has made it clear that plans to further expand Kotoka International Airport (KIA), via an additional runway and other facilities, are also not off the table.
We can therefore see that there is a deliberate attempt to invest heavily into the aviation sector post-COVID-19.
As part of comprehensive measures to cement Ghana’s position as the sub-region’s aviation hub, Mr. Adda noted that government is leaving no stone unturned in presenting the best airports and aviation infrastructure to travellers and global stakeholders in aviation and air travel.
“There is also the possibility that we can have a second runway at Kotoka International Airport, and we are packaging this and comparing it to what we could get out of the Prampram Airport,” Adda told our aviation correspondent.
“Investment for the Prampram Airport is no small investment; it could go up to US$10 – US$15billion the way we envisage it,” the Aviation Minister stated. The background to the Prampram airport is that the airport was projected to start in the ‘90s after it was considered during the ‘80s.
Chiefs of Ningo Traditional Council allocated a 60,000 acre-land for the proposed new airport. It is envisaged the airport facility that will be built could turn the area into an aerotropolis – a metropolitan sub-region where the layout, infrastructure and economy are centred on an airport that serves as a multimodal ‘airport city’ commercial core.
It is similar in form to a traditional metropolis which contains a central city commercial core and commuter-linked suburbs. The Prampram issue was raised because Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia disclosed that the NPP will construct an airport in the Central Region, at the party’s recent 2020 manifesto launch.
Judging from the minister’s position, we believe it was more of an afterthought because a commitment was made to construct an airport in Cape Coast, and there was nothing in the manifesto that suggested Prampram is in the works.
As Kotoka was not considered modern enough for an international airport, Pampram was considered as an alternative; but it seems that will not materialise anytime soon. Well, if Kotoka airport has been earmarked for expansion, it is all well and good. However, if on the other hand Pampram is not an immediate priority, it should be communicated as such.
