Commercial flight operations at Sunyani airport to commence in October – Minister

•Rehabilation works at the Sunyani airport is 94% complete

•The transport minister said this would be followed by a resumption of flight operations by October this year

•The airport since its commencement of commercial flights has not witnessed any renovations works

Flight operations are set to resume in October this year as rehabilitation works at the Sunyani Airport is almost complete, Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah has revealed.

According to him, progress on the first phase of the rehabilitation works which include the taxi-link, the apron, runway and renovation of the terminal structure is moving on steadily.

Making the disclosure before Parliament last week, the transport minister pointed that the contractor of the project is seeking to complete major works by the end of October this year.

“The project, which was impacted by COVID-19, has thankfully received some improvements in cash flow. As I speak the contractor is on-site and work is scheduled to be completed by the end of October this year,” Ofori-Asiamah told Parliament.

Meanwhile, finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presenting the mid-year budget statement before Parliament recently said the Sunyani Airport, since the commencement of commercial operations, has not witnessed any major renovation works.

“In order to improve infrastructure and reopen the airport for commercial operations, a contract was awarded in 2018 for the rehabilitation of the existing runway, minimal renovation of the terminal building, construction of some airport internal roads and other auxiliary facilities. Rehabilitation works is 94 percent complete,” Mr. Ofori-Atta told lawmakers.

“The Sunyani Airport was originally constructed as an Airstrip, and later upgraded into an airport in 1969. The airport currently has a total runway length of 1,520 meters made up of 1,400 meters paved and 60 meters unpaved Runway End Safety Area (RESA) at both ends,” Ofori-Atta said.

"It has the capacity to handle and process 100 passengers per hour. Since the commencement of commercial operations, the airport has not had any major renovation works, resulting in the poor state of the airport including cracks and potholes on the runway,” he explained.

He continued, “In 2015, Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) shut-down the airport as a precautionary measure to forestall any disaster. The rehabilitation and expansion of the airport is being carried out in phases,” the minister said.