President John Dramani Mahama has said Ghana will have a national airline flying again before he leaves office in January 2029, putting a deadline on a promise successive governments have made without delivering. Mahama told officials in the United Kingdom that a lot of work is going on to bring back the national carrier, and that he will probably announce the launch soon. The name has not been decided, but he used Ghana Airways for convenience.
The President said Ghana is partnering with Boeing, which will advise on aircraft, train Ghanaian engineers and pilots, and work with the country throughout the setup period. Boeing executives met Mahama in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last month. At that meeting, senior Boeing executives told the President the airline could return to the skies in about 18 months if the government puts the necessary structures and implementation arrangements in place. The projection is strictly conditional, and industry analysts note that meeting the target depends heavily on domestic execution, including establishing legal frameworks and operational mechanisms.
Mahama said the partnership should go beyond buying aircraft. Ghana does not want its relationship with Boeing to be defined simply by the purchase of aircraft, he said. The administration wants a strategic partnership that helps build an aviation ecosystem, creating skilled jobs, transferring technology, strengthening the industrial base and positioning Ghana as an aviation and logistics hub for West Africa. The talks also covered a proposed regional Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul hub to service commercial fleets across West Africa, as well as aviation training and technology transfer for young Ghanaians.
The government has not said how the airline will be owned or funded, whether through a private partner or mainly with state money, how many aircraft it will lease or buy, or which routes it will fly first. Boeing has not announced an order or a formal agreement. Ghana has had no state-backed carrier since Ghana International Airlines stopped flying in 2010, six years after the collapse of the original Ghana Airways in 2004. The original Ghana Airways was founded in 1958 but ran up heavy debts and was grounded in 2004.
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