Government through the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) has rented out the ground floor of Terminal 1 to a private company, McDan Aviation for use as a Logistics Operations Centre for a period of fifteen (15) years effective January, 2019.
Pursuant to the Ghana Government Agreement with the United States, McDan has also signed a Management Agreement with the United States Military to provide logistics and handling services to the US Military through Terminal 1 (Fixed Based Operations).
This came to light, when the Aviation Minister, Kofi Adda appeared before Parliament on Wednesday, 19th 2020 to answer questions by MP for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza on the current status of Kotoka International Airport Terminal 1 in terms of current and future operations.
According to the Sector Minister, “The Airlines continue to occupy the first floor and use the offices as operational offices to support their ticketing offices at Terminal 3.
Also, the AVSEC ID Card Section of the Aviation Security Department‘of the GACL is on the first floor of Terminal 1″.
He said, government has envisaged that the GACL will leverage on the “Aviation Driven Development” policy initiative to enhance Fixed Based Operations at Terminal 1 and other aviation-related projects.
The Minister mentioned that, following the relocation of international airline operations from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 in October, 2018 as well as the increase in domestic passengers, GACL relocated the domestic airline Operations from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2.
He noted “the relocation was also necessary because the marque tent used as the departure lounge (waiting area before passengers proceed to the boarding gate) had become dilapidated and needed to be replaced. GACL, therefore Opted for the relocation from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 to save money and also ensure efficiency in operations and passenger comfort”.
The Aviation Sector has embarked on an initiative dubbed “Aviation Driven Developments” in line with the vision to make Ghana an Aviation Hub within the Sub-Region and beyond.
The initiative seeks to use aviation as a catalyst for growth and development by developing the aeronautical and non-aeronautical side of aviation to ensure revenue generation and sustainability of the airports whilst enhancing safety and security.
The initiative is also to make the KIA highly competitive within the sub-region and the global community and Ghana as the preferred destination of choice for travelers for tourism, business and related activities.
The quest to advance the frontiers of the aviation industry has seen a major expansion and facelift in airport infrastructure and presently the KIA has three Terminals.
Terminal 1 is a two storey building, which until October, 2018 was used for domestic airline Operations.
It also housed Airlines and Offices of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL).
The ground floor consisted of the departure checkin hall, two boarding gates, the arrivals hall and washrooms in both arrivals and departure halls.
The Airlines occupied the first floor and used the offices as operative offices in support of their ticketing offices.
By Edzorna Francis Mensah
