Africa's largest airline considers direct flights to Kumasi

Direct international flights to the Kumasi International Airport may soon become a reality, following interest shown by Africa’s largest airline to service the airport subject to various regulatory approvals and traffic analysis.

Following the official inauguration of the €125 million newly constructed Kumasi International Airport in the Ashanti Region, residents of the region have called for the start of direct international flights to the airport.

Mr. Lemma Gudeta, Chief Commercial Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, during a working visit to Accra, noted that Kumasi and Tamale Airports fit into the Addis Ababa-based airline’s strategy of servicing secondary and tertiary airports in major African countries going forward as part of its Vision 2035. Vision 2035 anticipates that the airline will become a US$25 billion yearly revenue company flying to 209 stations across the globe.

“Ethiopian Airlines is currently undergoing serious expansion in Africa and the rest of the world. In Africa, currently, we are flying to 63 cities. Therefore, you can imagine the number of capital cities of African countries we serve. We have started going to secondary cities, and now the plan is also to go further into tertiary cities in Africa. As an example, today, we fly to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. We fly to Victoria Falls, the tourist attraction down south of Harare. We also fly to the industrial city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. This shows that, as I said earlier, Africa is what we call home.

Therefore, our expansion for sure, will include secondary cities in brotherly countries in Africa, and Ghana will be one of them. But some groundworks have to be done with the government and other government agencies. Once those bureaucracies are handled, we will, for sure, have that expansion plan in Ghana,” he said.

The Kumasi Airport project comprises the extension of the runway from 1,981m to 2,320m that can accommodate up to Boeing 737-800 series aircraft, construction of a new two-story ultra-modern terminal, construction of additional aprons, restaurants, shopping, and parking areas, and a ring road around the airport.

The new Kumasi International Airport terminal can handle one million passengers per annum. The expansion project is part of the multi-modal transportation system being developed by the government to enhance tourism in the Ashanti Region.

Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, is the busiest domestic destination and it is served by both PassionAir and Africa World Airlines (AWA). Ghana Airports Company Limited data show that for 2022 more than 840,000 people traveled by air domestically; with the Kumasi Airport receiving the second largest passenger throughput.

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