Ghana’s New Airport Levy Begins Tomorrow To Fund Major Infrastructure Overhaul | By Gifty Ruth Odamtten
Ghana is launching an ambitious airport infrastructure modernization programme designed to establish the country as West Africa’s leading aviation hub. This initiative will be funded through a new passenger-based levy, which was approved in the 2026 national budget.
This program is part of President John Dramani Mahama’s broader economic reset agenda, which emphasizes the importance of transport connectivity and logistics efficiency in driving growth in trade, tourism, and investment.
The Ministry of Transport, in a letter addressed to the Board of Airline Representatives, Ghana dated March 30, 2026, and sighted by AviationGhana.com, has announced that the Airport Infrastructure Development Charge (AIDC), which will be used to fund this ambitious program, will start on April 1, 2026, and will apply to all tickets issued on or after that date.
This levy will be imposed on passengers traveling on both domestic and international flights, although exemptions will be made for infants, diplomats, and airline crew members on duty.
The levy is expected to mobilize approximately US$800 million over a ten-year period to finance critical aviation infrastructure projects across the country.
Under the approved framework, international passengers will pay US$50 per trip, while travellers within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will pay US$15, with an additional US$30 charge for other African routes. The funds raised will be held by the Ministry of Transport.
A major flagship project under the program is building a connecting concourse between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 at the Accra International Airport, Ghana’s primary international gateway.
The link will eliminate operational bottlenecks caused by the current detached terminal configuration, enabling seamless passenger transfers and improving hub efficiency, which is critical to attracting airlines and transit traffic.
The terminal integration is also expected to support Ghana Airports Company Limited’s strategy to optimise terminal utilisation by allowing both domestic, regional and international operations to be handled more flexibly across facilities.
Beyond Accra, the programme includes broader investments in regional airport infrastructure, reflecting government efforts to expand domestic connectivity and reduce congestion pressure on the capital’s main gateway.
Other projects designated with this funding source, which is managed by the Ministry of Transport, include: the construction of a multi-story parking garage at Accra International Airport; the new Wa Airport Terminal Building and runway extension; the new Bolgatanga Green Field Airport; the new Sunyani Airport terminal building, a modern air traffic control tower, and extending the existing runway to over 2000 meters to accommodate wide-body aircraft.
Sunyani Airport is currently only serviced by Passion Air due to limitations of the runway length. Once completed, domestic jet operators such as Africa World Airlines can also service the airport.
The financing mechanism signals a policy shift toward user-pay infrastructure funding models common in global aviation markets, while also demonstrating political commitment to the sector’s long-term competitiveness.
For Ghana, the stakes extend beyond aviation. Authorities view the modernisation drive as a strategic economic enabler that can strengthen tourism flows, regional trade integration, and Ghana’s position’ within continental air transport networks.
The programme could significantly reshape West Africa’s aviation competitive landscape, where countries are increasingly investing in airport infrastructure to capture transit traffic and airline investment.
“By courtesy of the Majority Leader and his Members of Parliament, they have approved the new airport infrastructure development levy so the airport [Bolgatanga Airport and others] will be funded out of that levy”, President John Dramani Mahama said while addressing Ghana’s Upper East National House of Chiefs earlier this year.
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