Sixty-four years after the establishment of Ghana Airways and eighteen years after its ceased operations, the race for a strategic investor to partner with the Government of Ghana for the establishment of a new home-based carrier has ended, as Ashanti Airlines, has been chosen as the new partner.
By this arrangement, the new carrier is jointly owned by the government of Ghana and the Ashanti Airlines, which is an indigenous company.
It is generally believed that Ghana Airways, collapsed due to mismanagement and was embroiled in corruption over the years. To that extent, it is necessary that the new carrier is cleansed of any corruptive influence.
With this process in place, the new carrier must be run like most airlines that are state-run like the Kenya Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines etc.
In the considered opinion of this newspaper, this announcement couldn’t have come at a better time. The decision to have an airline that will carry the pride of the nation is long overdue.
Moreover, we strongly believe that the new carrier, can only succeed with minimal interference from political actors and bureaucracy.
It is the wish of this newspaper that the new carrier is given a free rein to work and actualise its potentials.
Ghana has been without a national airline since the collapse of Ghana International Airlines in 2010, following the demise of Ghana Airways in 2004. Attempts to establish a new home-based carrier has led to the signing of MoUs with Ethiopian Airlines and EgyptAir respectively with no clear outcome.
Overall, we commend the government for taking this bold initiative even if belated.
Ashanti Airlines is owned by Ghanaian business mogul and co-founder of the Despite Group of Companies, Osei Kwame Despite and his partner, Ernest OforiSarpong.
Ashanti Airlines is backed by the Despite Group, one of the biggest indigenous companies with interest in media, banking, food and beverage, and real estate sectors.
