By Keren Vanderpuije
Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the Kumasi International Airport would be completed by May this year. The project, which is currently about 98 percent complete, has stalled due to funding challenging.
Addressing Ghana’s 275-member Parliament on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, President Akufo-Addo said the completion of the external debt restructuring process will offer government some fiscal space to complete some key projects.
“Mr. Speaker, we are committed to concluding the external debt restructuring process as soon as possible, so we move past the crisis. This
will enable us to complete substantially projects that have been constrained due to financial challenges. In the meantime, some of the
priority projects have been transferred onto the GOG budget within the same fiscal space to ensure their completion. This will enable the Kumasi International Airport, which is some ninety-eight (98%) complete, to be completed by May,” President Akufo-Addo said in his final State of the Nation Address presented to Parliament.
Work on the Kumasi Airport Project (Phase 2 & 3) is progressing steadily. The Phase II of the project, which began in 2018, includes the construction of a new terminal building to handle one million passengers per annum, two boarding bridges, a road network, perimeter fence, a substation and parking lot among others. The cost of the Phase II of expansion works on the second busiest airport in Ghana is estimated at £66,350,000.
Phase III of the Kumasi Airport expansion project involves the extension of the existing runway pavement from 1,981 meters to 2,320 meters, construction of new taxi link and two apron parking stands, an Air Traffic Control Building, and a Fire Station among others. The cost for this phase is estimated at £58,900,000. The Kumasi Airport is currently served by two domestic carriers namely: Africa World Airlines (AWA) and PassionAir.
