According to end-of-year 2023 data available to AviationGhana, PassionAir has surpassed Africa World Airlines (AWA) as Ghana’s leading scheduled domestic airline operator.
PassionAir now holds 50.81% of the domestic passenger market, while AWA has a 49.19% share. The total scheduled domestic passenger traffic for the year 2023 from Accra to the five main domestic airports in Ghana, including Wa, Tamale, Kumasi, Sunyani, and Takoradi, was 760,300.
PassionAir, a relatively young competitor, transported 386,294 passengers, representing 50.81% of the market, while AWA, which had been the largest domestic operator for the past five years, now holds a minority share of 49.19 percent having transported 374,006 passengers. This data shows that PassionAir has overtaken AWA as the number-one domestic airline operator in Ghana.
One key reason for the strong showing by PassionAir is its strong showing on the Sunyani and Wa domestic routes. PassionAir currently has an advantage over AWA on the Sunyani route which is down to the type of equipment it uses.
PassionAir operates a fleet of five (5) Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 which require just over 910 meters to land and take off safely. The length of the Sunyani Airport runway is 1,400m. This makes it suitable for Passion Air’s fleet. AWA on the other hand operates a fleet of seven (7) Embraer ERJ-145LR aircraft. These planes require a longer runway for take-off and landing.
