Bright Simons offers a blueprint for new “Ghana Airlines” | By Dominick Andoh | The Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, says that there must be an “elite consensus” against arbitrary interference in the proposed new national carrier for it to succeed and emulate the shining example of Ethiopian Airlines.
Ghana has been without a national airline since the demise of Ghana Airways in 2004 and the collapse of its successor, Ghana International Airlines, in 2010.
Following a decade of unsuccessful attempts to launch a new flag carrier, President John Dramani Mahama says the best way out is for the government to re-open a transparent Expression of Interest (EoI) process to invite competent and established partners to help Ghana create a new national airline.
While this may be laudable, Bright Simons believes that the very factors that led to the collapse of Ghana Airways and Ghana International Airlines were mitigated by Ethiopian Airlines, offering a blueprint for Ghana’s quest for a new national airline.
“One phrase: elite consensus. Since 1946, successive [Ethiopian] governments have generally decided that the airline should be run professionally. Arbitrary interference is considered taboo. Such enduring consistency builds up to excellence,” he wrote in an X post on March 14, 2025.
Comparing Ethiopian Airlines’ performance to UK-based British Airways, he noted that: “In fact, Ethiopian Airlines can deliver native Ethiopian cuisine 40,000 feet up in the air, and it won’t taste like yesterday’s unrefrigerated pudding. If you know anything about traditional Ethiopian cooking, you would know that this is no mean feat.
And it is not even like Ethiopian Airlines isn’t run by formidable cost managers itself. If you were one of those French business developers at Thales Avionics that had to negotiate with them, you would know. They can bargain and squeeze as well as any Kerala grandmother in a bazaar.
Which is why upon all the cost-cutting, and despite the recent cooing about surging profits, BA’s 5-year net profit margin isn’t all that higher than Ethiopian’s. The real clue is in “capacity growth”, where Ethiopia’s 20% avg year-on-year figure totally dwarfs BA’s 6%. Lesson: when managing costs, don’t end up alienating your most value-adding customers.
Furthermore, we need to consider operational context. BA is a Europe-based airline. Industry avg net profit margin there is nearly 4%. In Africa, where Ethiopian operates, the equivalent figure is about NEGATIVE 3%. Ethiopian is a total miracle performer, all factors considered.”
Attempts at ‘Ghana Airways’ 3.0
Since 2014, various governments have worked through the Transport Ministry to engage with aviation industry players, inviting bids from notable companies such as Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir, South African Airways, Qatar Airways, and Ashanti Airlines.
Despite winning the bid to partner with the government on this initiative, Ashanti Airlines and its financial backers, the Zotus Group, have failed to meet critical deadlines, hindering progress in establishing the national airline.
Plans to begin ticket sales in April and May and to launch commercial flights by June or July 2023—one year after Ashanti Airlines won the bid in May 2022, failed to materialise with no plausible explanation from the group
Ashanti Airlines, which already had an Air Carrier License (ACL) prior to the tender award, filed its documentation with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC)—the second such certification mandated by law before an airline is fully established and can start scheduled and non-scheduled commercial flights.
AviationGhana sources within the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the aviation sector regulator, indicate that Ashanti Airlines and its partners have yet to complete the necessary processes to obtain an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and acquire an aircraft.
Bright Simons offers a blueprint for new “Ghana Airlines” | AviationGhana | By Dominick Andoh
