Expansion work at Kumasi International Airport 77% complete
Kumasi Airport is expected to launch international operations in June 2022, President Akufo-Addo said during a courtesy call on the Asantehene
Testing of the new terminal at Kumasi International Airport will begin in January 2022, President Nana Akufo-Addo has disclosed.
The project, which is 77% complete, will commence operating fully in June 2022, said Nana Akufo-Addo during a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, after inspecting the Kumasi Airport expansion project.
“I went to inspect the airport and it is 77% complete. In January they will begin tests of the airport and by June next year full operations will begin. You and I will be the ones to be on the first flight from Kumasi to London and back,” the president told the Asantehene.
It will be recalled that on 6 June 2018 the president cut the sod for commencement of work on phase two of the Kumasi Airport project. On that occasion he declared: “The expansion of this airport is a critical part of the government’s vision to expand the frontiers of the aviation industry in the country and to realise the dream of making Ghana an aviation hub in West Africa.”
Inspecting work on the site, President Akufo-Addo learned that the terminal building was 88% complete, the road network 93% complete, the apron 89% complete, and the associated air traffic control and rescue and firefighting services 53% complete.
Runway extension
The scope of works includes extension of the existing runway pavement from 1,981 metres to 2,320 metres, construction of a new taxi link and apron, two new apron parking stands, aeronautical ground lighting systems, design and building of a terminal with capacity to handle 800,000 passengers per year, an 11MW power substation, as well the provision of new bulk utility services (electricity, water, sewage treatment system, internet et cetera), independent of the existing utility services for the old airport.
Phase three of the project will involve the construction of the air traffic control building and a fire station, as well as expansion of the existing runway. The additional construction of a fuel farm is to be funded by GOIL.
With the project being built by Messrs Contracta Construction UK Ltd, the total project sum is €124.9 million, with financing from Santander, Deutsche Bank and UK Export Finance.
President Akufo-Addo expressed satisfaction with the progress of work undertaken so far, and charged the Ministry of Transport as well as the contractor to ensure that the October 2022 deadline for completion is met.
Loretta Timah
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