By Dominick Andoh | Despite and partners fail to deliver Ghana’s new national airline | Despite repeated assurances after winning the bid that Ghana’s new national airline, supported by private capital with state backing, would commence operations before the end of last year, Ashanti Airlines and its partners, The Zotus Group, have failed to deliver.
Ghana Airlines was envisioned as a public-private initiative by the Government of Ghana to create a home-based carrier. However, despite 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—the airline is still not operational.
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.
Ashanti Airlines and its financial partner, Zotus Group, led by former footballer Emile Heskey, have yet to launch their logo and offer tickets for sale. Information obtained by AviationGhana.com indicates that Ashanti Airlines and its partner are yet to complete the required processes to obtain an AOC, and are yet to acquire aircraft.
Ashanti Airlines is backed by Ghanaian business mogul and co-founder of the Despite Group of Companies, Osei Kwame Despite, and his partner, Ernest Ofori Sarpong.
Ghana has been without a national airline since the collapse of Ghana International Airlines in 2010, following the demise of Ghana Airways in 2004. Attempts to establish a new home-based carrier have led to the signing of MoUs with Ethiopian Airlines and EgyptAir respectively with no clear outcome.
AviationGhana| Despite and partners’ fail to deliver Ghana’s new national airline
