Ghana’s task force working on plans for a new national airline is close to completing its assignment, Transport Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe has said.
Mr Nikpe made the announcement at the launch of Uganda Airlines’ Accra–Entebbe service on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, as Ghana moves to restore its presence in the aviation industry.
He said President John Dramani Mahama wanted Ghana to become an active participant in air transport, rather than concentrate solely on building and improving airports without operating a national carrier.
“His Excellency the President is thinking that we cannot have beautiful airports and connect our airports to other airports without participating in that industry of aviation or flying people,” he said.
The minister indicated that the task force was at the final stage of its work and that further developments would be announced soon.
He said a new Ghanaian airline would help strengthen travel and trade links across Africa by connecting production centres with markets, markets with factories, and workplaces with tourist destinations.
Mr Nikpe also said better air links would make it easier for people to travel across the continent and support wider economic activity.
“And so very soon, the task force [national airline task force] is almost done with their work. And very soon, we will join Uganda Airlines to be able to move our people from producing centres to the marketplaces, from the marketplaces to the factories, and from workplaces to other tourism sites, so that Africans will have that kind of free movement within our own [continent],” he stated.
Ghana previously operated Ghana Airways, but the airline was liquidated several years ago. The government is now considering the creation of a new national carrier as it seeks to re-establish the country in the aviation sector.
The comments came as Ghana expanded its air links with other African nations through the launch of Uganda Airlines’ Accra–Entebbe route, which provides a direct connection between the two markets.
Mahama hopes for return before end of tenure
President John Dramani Mahama has separately said he is hopeful that Ghana’s national airline will be operating again before he leaves office.
Speaking at the Russian University of Transport, where he received an honorary doctorate, President Mahama said work was in progress to revive the country’s former carrier.
“And even as I speak, we are working on revamping our cherished national airline, which is the defunct Ghana Airways. And as I said, it’s my hope that before I leave office, we will have Ghana Airways back in the air.”
