UK investor backs new GhanaAirlines

13.01.2023 – 12:22 UTC

UK-based investment fund Zotus Group is to finance and provide operational support to Ashanti Airlines to establish GhanaAirlines, the country’s new national carrier currently finalising its certification.

According to the Ghana News Agency, the new airline will debut in the 3Q23 on domestic routes before entering regional and intercontinental routes to London Heathrow (UK) and New York JFK (US). The start-up has already obtained its Air Carrier License (ACL) and is in the final phases of obtaining its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).

The Zotus Group, in the first official announcement on GhanaAirlines, confirmed it was providing “significant” funding for the start-up as Ashanti’s operational and financial partners, but did not disclose an amount. “The Government of Ghana has confirmed it has awarded Ashanti Airlines and its operational and financial partners, the Zotus Group, the tender to operate the national carrier, GhanaAirlines, out of Accra commencing in 2023. Ashanti Group was shortlisted among others through a competitive process and subsequently received Cabinet approval for the Strategic Partnership on February 24, 2022,” the Zotus…

Ghana’s new nat’l carrier close to certification – CAA head

21.12.2022 – 11:44 UTC

Ghana’s new home-based carrier – GhanaAirlines (Accra) – is close to being certified by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority after having already received an air transport license, according to GCAA director-general Charles Kraikue.

He said an announcement by Ghana’s Ministry of Transport was expected before the end of the year. Business & Financial Times newspaper reports Kraikue was speaking at a media conference after a stakeholder meeting with aviation industry players in Accra, Ghana, on December 15, 2022.

“We have assisted the government in the process. What we have done is that the home-based carrier has been given the air-carrier licence by the GCAA. We are at the last stage of granting the air operator certificate, which is the last stage of our processes, and we hope that, very soon, the home-based carrier will be launched,” he said.

As reported,
ch-aviation has been reliably informed that Ashanti Airlines (Accra) has signed a joint venture agreement with the Government of Ghana as the home-based carrier, but no official announcement has been…

GhanaAirlines to debut in 2023

30.11.2022 – 10:10 UTC

Ghana’s new national carrier will be called GhanaAirlines (Accra) and will be launched in 2023, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

Presenting the 2023 budget before Parliament on November 24, 2022, he said: “Shareholders and partnership agreements were signed with the selected strategic partner for the home-based carrier, which will be known as GhanaAirlines. The airline is expected to be operationalised in 2023.”

Ahead of the selection, names such as Akwaaba Airlines, Black Star Airlines, and Kente Airlines were mooted as alternatives, reported GhanaWeb.

The minister did not provide further details about the partners and shareholders, but it has been reported that Ashanti Airlines (Accra) has been selected as the preferred strategic partner.

GhanaWeb reports that Ashanti Airlines, owned by businessmen Osei Kwame Despite and Ernest Ofori-Sarpong, is finalising financial arrangements for a 2023 launch.

According to Ghana Civil Aviation Authority records, Ashanti Airlines already holds an air carrier’s licence (ACL), allowing it to operate scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo flights on an international, regional, and…