Now Ghana's leading airline, Africa World Airlines (AWA) is gradually rolling out
his plan of action. The company started its operations in September 2012 in a Ghanaian sky
strongly solicited by the presence of four other domestic companies, namely Fly 540, Starbow,
Citylink and Antrak. However, this has not discouraged its shareholders, who have set themselves solid ambitions
continents, as the very name of the company indicates.
Founded on the initiative of Togbe Afede XIV, king of the state of Asogli (eastern Ghana) and businessman, AWA
counts among its shareholders SAS Finance, the Ghanaian social security (Social Security and National
Insurance Trust), the China-Africa Development Fund and the Chinese HNA Group, parent company of
Hainan Airlines.
From its base in Accra, it began operations with two Embraer ERJ 145s deployed on three lines
domestic (Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale). After seven years of activity, the carrier now operates a
homogeneous fleet of eight ERJ 145s with an expanding regional network. AWA connects four cities in the
sub-region namely Monrovia (Liberia), Lagos and Abuja (Nigeria) and Freetown in Sierra Leone. In order to
position its Accra hub as a privileged "feeder", AWA has relied on a strategy of alliances to
develop its activities, for lack of a long-haul plane.
At the beginning of the year, the company entered into an interline agreement with South African Airways (SAA) to
benefit from the transatlantic and African network of the national carrier of South Africa. A deal
similar, but one-sided, was signed last April with Emirates and allows customers of the
Dubai company to connect to the AWA network from its hub in Accra. More recently, AWA has
also finalized a tripartite interline agreement with the Togolese carrier ASKY and Ethiopian Airlines.
All these initiatives obviously have an impact on the company's performance and projections.
To date, AWA is Ghana's leading airline. The carrier operates more than 1,300 flights per
month with an average of 50,000 passengers transported. It boasts an execution rate of more than
95% of scheduled flights.
Focused on the growth of its network, AWA aims to expand to Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), Dakar
(Senegal) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) from next year. According to the commercial manager of the
Ghanaian company, Richard Kyereh, Africa World Airlines plans to add Embraer E190s in order to
support this expansion. The previously announced plan for the introduction of the Airbus A319 still remains
valid, he added, without specifying a timetable.
In its efforts to revitalize the Accra hub, AWA can count on the support of the State of Ghana, which has
embarked on a vast national plan to modernize the country's airport platforms. So since
October 2018, Accra-Kotoka International Airport commissioned its Terminal 3. Financed by the Bank
African Development Bank (AfDB) for nearly 120 million dollars, this new terminal carries
now the capacity of the platform to 5 million passengers per year. Accra is currently processing almost 2
million passengers per year. It is in the same traffic range (2018) as its competitors
direct regional airports such as Blaise Diagne International Airport in Dakar (2.3 million passengers) and
Abidjan International Airport (2.1 million). With respectively 6.7 and 4.6 million passengers per year,
Nigeria's Lagos and Abuja airports dominate the West African market.

In addition, Accra International Airport is preparing to host a maintenance center as part of
an agreement signed in August 2018 with Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering, the MRO subsidiary of the
Egyptian flag carrier. This is an additional technical advantage which could contribute to attracting
more airlines to the Ghanaian capital, in addition to the operationalization of the Market
Single African Air Transport Agency (MUTAA) of which Ghana is a stakeholder.
In the same vein, the government has also carried out phase 2 of the extension of the airport of
Tamale, delivery of the site is scheduled in thirty months. Kumasi, Takoradi and Sunyani airports
are also undergoing an upgrade. According to the national tourism development plan, the country hopes
attract 2.45 million tourists by 2022 and 4.23 million by 2027, an industry that represents
today 3% of the national GDP.
Obviously, it is clear that the Accra platform is on the right track to position itself
as an air transport hub in West Africa. Indeed, since the cessation of
activities of Starbow Airlines in November 2017, the departure of Fly 540, and the disappearances of Citylink and Antrak,
other carriers are also appearing in the domestic market, alongside the dynamism
current Africa World Airlines.
Passion Air thus began its activities last year with the entry into service of two Bombardier Q400
between Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. Unity Air, a subsidiary of the Unity group of companies, meanwhile landed its
air operator certificate (AOC) in November 2018. It plans to begin operations in the
coming months on domestic routes. Finally, the Ghanaian footballer's BabyJet Airlines
Asamoah Gyan is also about to start operations, as its operating license has been
obtained in 2017.
But the most awaited company of all is obviously the future national company of Ghana
Ethiopian Airlines will be a shareholder under a public-private partnership (PPP). New
carrier is expected to enter Ghanaian skies by next year.