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; but plans to further expand Kotoka International Airport (KIA), via an additional runway and other facilities, are also not off the table, Aviation Minister Joseph Kofi-Adda has said.
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.
“The construction of a new airport is a very major investment effort, and we (government) are doing the assessment to see what we need to do. The Kotoka Airport today has the potential to grow up to 7 million passenger throughput, possibly 10 million. The airport city has land where we can expand and build the infrastructure that is required.
“There is also the possibility that we can have a second runway at the Kotoka International Airport, and we are packaging this and comparing it to what we could get out of the Prampram Airport,” Mr. Adda said – noting that the cost component, especially the construction of a new airport, could reach US$15billion.
“Investment for the Prampram Airport is not a small investment; it could go up to US$10 to US$15billion the way we envisage it. This is something that we are analysing, and unless we really come to a conclusion on that I cannot make a pronouncement,” he said.
Land acquisition
Already, the chiefs of Ningo Traditional Council have allocated a 60,000 acre-land for the proposed new airport. On government books, the airport was projected to start in the 90s after it was considered during the 80s…but it is yet to materialise.
It is envisaged the airport facility that would 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.
Investors
The Former Aviation Minister, Cecelia Abena Dapaah – some three years ago during a visit to the area – said investors from Europe, China, Turkey, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa have submitted proposals to the ministry, which is considering selecting the most suitable one for the project.
She told the Ningo Traditional Council: “When the project takes off, there are a lot of ancillary services that it will provide; from houses, light industries, free zones, cargo sections to hospitals”.
Cape Coast Airport
The Prampram Airport announcement comes on the back of a promise by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) that it will construct an airport in Cape Cost if given the mandate to govern for the next four years in the upcoming December polls.
In his address at the party’s 2020 manifesto launch, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia disclosed that the NPP will construct an airport in the Central Region. “For the people of Cape Coast, I have good news for you. We are building a new harbour in Cape Coast and a new airport in Cape Coast,” he said, adding that the airport will boost tourism activities in the area.
