The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has announced plans to attract more domestic airline operators as part of efforts to bring down the high cost of air travel within Ghana.
The move follows growing public concern over soaring domestic airfares, with ticket prices on some routes currently hovering around GH₵3,000, putting air travel beyond the reach of many Ghanaians.
Appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, January 13, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of GACL, Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, admitted that domestic flight prices remain excessively high but explained that pricing decisions are outside the direct control of the airport authority.
“The price for domestic flights is indeed expensive,” she told the committee. “Unfortunately, it does not lie within the domain of the Ghana Airports Company. It is an airline issue.”
Mrs Afriyie Opare said GACL’s role is limited to engagement and advocacy, noting that management intends to hold discussions with airline operators to appeal for fare reductions in the interest of the travelling public.
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She attributed the persistently high fares largely to limited competition, explaining that Ghana’s domestic aviation market is currently dominated by only two active airline operators.
“Because there is a duopoly of domestic carriers—meaning just two airlines operating at the moment—competition is weak,” she said. “If we are able to get more domestic carriers to operate, competition will force prices to come down.”
According to her, GACL is actively exploring ways to make Ghana’s domestic aviation space more attractive to additional operators, including improving operational efficiency at airports and engaging relevant stakeholders to reduce barriers to entry.
Domestic commercial flights in Ghana mainly serve Accra, Kumasi and the northern regions, providing critical transport links for business travel, government operations and emergency movement. However, the high cost of tickets has increasingly discouraged travellers from using air transport, pushing many back to long-distance road travel.
Mrs Afriyie Opare expressed optimism that increased airline participation would not only lower fares but also improve service quality and frequency on domestic routes.
She assured Parliament that GACL remains committed to working with aviation regulators, airlines and policymakers to ensure that domestic air travel becomes more affordable, competitive and accessible to the wider population.
