The Minister of Aviation, Kofi Adda, says the Ministry will explore the possibility of floating shares in the soon to be established home-based carrier on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
He said while government had not decided its percentage of shares in the carrier, it was looking at between 10 and 15 percent, in line with international benchmarks, and would sell out the rest to strategic investors.
Speaking during a familiarisaton tour of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) and the newly constructed Terminal 3 at the weekend, Mr. Adda said: “I think a good idea is to float some of those shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange, where you and I can buy and we’ll also own it.”
He said government was still assessing the offers it had received from Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritius and Abu Dhabi Airlines to act as strategic partners in the establishment of the home-based carrier and would announce the decision once the proposals were reviewed.
He explained that a board with representation of all shareholders would be in place to run the carrier efficiently.
“It won’t be the old fashioned national carrier like Ghana Airways, 100 per cent owned by state, that you and I working for that carrier can bring our family, get discounts tickets or bring our baggage free; that will not happen anymore; you can be a minister but you must pay,” he said.
Mr. Adda said his vision as Aviation Minister was to work to realise the visions that had been tabled by the two main agencies; the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the GACL and to make the aviation sector the best performing in the sub-region.
“We want to be the top sector in Ghana and the region, we want to maintain our lead in terms of civil aviation, we want the professionalism and efficiency from the Airport management,” he said, noting that all those would make Ghana’s aviation sector competitive and attractive.
He commended the GACL after the tour of the T3 facility, saying it was top-class comparable to any in the world, with the appropriate signs to help passengers find whatever services they needed, and urged those who would use it to help maintain it.
The Managing Director of the GACL, John Attafuah, who led the Minister and his delegation on the tour, said the GACL had begun operational tests on Terminal 3 to ensure it operated as expected.
Departure flights from the Terminal began on Monday, September 3, 2018 with four flights and the first arrivals on Friday, September 7.
Prior to that, Mr. Attafuah said the GACL had conducted several tests, including a total of about 36 simulations at the facility.
“So far all our systems have worked as we had expected and we are confident that come the 15th of this month, when we go live from here, we should not have any problems and challenges,” he stated.
The 275 million-dollar project is expected to be commissioned and put into full use by mid-September 2018, and would see the arrival of the iconic Airbus A380 to the terminal, by Emirates Airlines, on October 2.
