Civil Aviation to Be Broken Up

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is to be split into two organisations namely an Airport Company and Civil Aviation Authority.

Under the Airport Company private sector participation will be encouraged in the commercial activities of the Airports such as development and management whilst the Aviation Authority will be responsible for safety air traffic and navigational control in its flight Information Region.

The Minister of Roads and Transport Mr. Edward Salia who disclosed this in Accra said the decision is to make Kotoka International Airport (KIA) an international hub for aviation in the West Africans Sub-region and Africa as a whole.

He noted that the completion of the first phase of its rehabilitation project has made GCAA to be recognized by the American Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) as a category 1 Airport.

According to the Minister, GCAA is also undertaking the construction of a domestic terminal, new facilities for handling passengers to ensure smooth and efficient handling of people under its phase II project.

He said in the second phase of the KIA rehabilitation project, additional work includes the extension of the runway at KIA by another 400 meters to enable bigger aircraft's like the Boeing 747 and Boeing, 777 and MD11 to take off with full local of passengers and complementary fuel.

Mr. Salia announced that the Airport city project designed to develop the foreground of KIA into a first class commercial enclave which will include hotels, luxury apartments, shopping malls and showrooms, offices, recreational facilities, hospital and commercial carparks, is going on steadily.

Touching on the operations of Ghana Airways, the Minister said between 1997 and 1999, it recorded significant increase in passenger uplifts from a level of 198,000 to over 310,000 in 1999 representing an increase of about 75 percent.

He said even though revenue increased from 95 million dollars over a three-year period, this did not translate into any significant improvement in profitability because of high operating cost, due mainly to adhere aircraft leases expensive route maintenance and high fuel prices.

The Minister also disclosed that within the next 2 to 3 years, the company plans to renew it's fleet with equipment geared towards optimizing its hub strategy.

"This will however be preceded by a study that will evaluate and recommend the most feasible equipment type to be used by the airline," he said.

He assured Ghanaians that the ministry will not relent in its efforts to provide appropriate transport infrastructure as well as safe and efficient transport service to move the country forward.