By Dominick Andoh| Cash for US$ 50 million Cape Coast Airport Ready – Dr. Bawumia | The Vice President of Ghana and the Flag Bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, says funding for the proposed Cape Coast Airport has been secured as part of the Korean US$2 billion facility.
Presenting details of the NPP’s manifesto for the 2024 election at the official launch of the document in Takoradi on Sunday, August 18, 2024, Dr. Bawumia said when voted into power, his government will “commence the development of the Cape Coast Airport, for which funding has been secured under the Korean $2 billion facility.”
The proposed Cape Coast Airport and its ancillary facilities, estimated to cost about $50 million, will be sited on 600 acres at Ankaful in the Central Region.
An initial feasibility study for the airport was conducted in 1997 and recently updated. The defunct Ministry of Aviation chose Ankaful as the most suitable location.
The Central Region is a significant tourism destination in the country, given its rich history and UNESCO World Heritage castles situated along the coast. However, it is only accessible by road.
Cape Coast played a crucial role in the success of the Year of Return held in Ghana last year.
The arrival of over 200,000 tourists and other activities related to the “Year of Return” initiative generated a total of US$1.9 billion for the economy. Many of the tourists, who were African-Americans, mainly sought to reconnect with their roots and see the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles as a must-visit.
Despite the push to establish airports in every region, the commercial viability of these regional airports has been called into question. A recent Auditor-General Report indicated that the Prempeh I International Airport in Kumasi, the Tamale Airport, Wa Airport, the Sunyani Airport and the Ho Airport are all not commercially viable.
“We conducted an analysis on the operations of five regional airports in terms of their commercial viability and noted that all five regional airports were not commercially viable,” the report noted.
The non-viability of these airports has been due to the lack of traffic to them, the high cost of maintaining and running these on-ground aviation infrastructure, and the low domestic Airport Passenger Service Charge of GHC 50 per passenger.
The current domestic Airport Passenger Service Charge was fixed at GHC 5 in 2010 and has not been reviewed since.
AviationGhana | Cash for US$ 50 million Cape Coast Airport Ready – Dr. Bawumia
