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He also said the ranking by ACI had Kotoka International Airport as the 4th best airport in Africa in the first quarter of 2019.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 28th ACI Africa Annual General Assembly Conference and Exhibition in Accra, President Akufo-Addo said: “Ghana’s aviation industry has seen considerable growth in recent years, made possible by the continuous creation of a stable political, social, and economic climate”.
“We have liberalised the regulatory framework in which the industry operates. In addition to this, we have abolished the 17.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic airfares, which has led to almost a doubling of domestic passenger traffic. International passenger numbers have grown by 6.7% as at September 2019, compared to 2018. Air freight movement has also increased by 5.9%.
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“Currently, thirty-eight (38) airlines are operating in Ghana, and they connect directly to 30 different destinations around the globe. It is, thus, not a surprise that 1.3 million tourists visited Ghana in 2017, and the industry contributed $2.7 billion to our GDP. There was a slight decline in 2018, with an industry contribution of $2.5 billion to our GDP”, he noted.
According to him, the Ministry of Aviation has also initiated plans for a dedicated programme, dubbed ‘Aviation-Driven Developments’ that seeks to use aviation as a driver of socio-economic transformation.
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Kotoka International Airport
“It will see the construction of a Maintenance, Overhaul and Repairs Facility at the Tamale International Airport; construction of cargo facility; development of aviation training organisation for pilot training; and construction of state-of-the-art control tower at the Kotoka International Airport, amongst others. Our airports will continue to undergo systematic facelifts through infrastructure rehabilitations. We also intend to continue to open up the country by constructing additional airports to serve as feeders to Kotoka International Airport.
“The progress being made in the aviation sector is ample evidence of our commitment to collaborate and cooperate with all industry stakeholders, and to champion the cause of global and regional policies such as the ‘No Country Left Behind Initiative’, the Single African Air Transport Market, and, thereby, enhance safety and security. Our efforts ensured that in April this year, after the International Civil Aviation Organisation concluded its Coordinated Validation Mission, Ghana obtained an Effective Implementation Rate of 89.89%, the highest by an African country”, he added.