Ghana to certify first aircraft maintenance and repair firm by December

Ghana is to certify the first aircraft maintenance company by December 2022.

The company, AviationGhana can confirm, is nearing the completion of its certification process which it started some five years ago.

Known as 3AMS-CELMS Limited, the firm is to operate Ghana’s first Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Kotoka International Airport.

The aviation sector regulator, GCAA on March 29, 2022 gave permission for 3AMS-CELMS Limited to proceed to stage four of the five-stage certification process.

Managing Director of 3AMS-CELMS Limited, Clifford Martey Korley said when the final certification is done, 3AMS-CELMS will be able to repair and maintain single-aisle aircraft and Boeing 737s in Ghana and the West Africa Sub-region.

This means domestic operators, Africa World Airlines (AWA) and PassionAir can service and repair their fleet locally.

West Africa has only an MRO in Nigeria able to repair smaller aircraft despite being one of the regions where air traffic growth, prior to the pandemic in 2020, was on the ascendancy.

There are about 32 West Africa-based airlines servicing the region and tens of international flights servicing various airports in the sub-region daily.

Airline operators in the sub-region have to either fly to Ethiopia, Egypt or South Africa to have faults and regular maintenance carried out on most large aircraft.

Mr. Korley however said once that once the final certification is issued, hopefully by December this year, it will be able to service all such aircraft in the subregion, earn money for the country and help hasten the re-attainment of Category 1 status for the Kotoka International Airport.

For Ghana to become an aviation hub, the establishment of an MRO is imperative.

"The coming on-stream of 3AMS-CELMS Limited's MRO operations will greatly accelerate the vision of becoming the go-to aviation hub in the sub-region," he added.

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