Airport authorities in Ghana are planning for an upsurge in services following the opening of a new terminal at Tamale International Airport.
Phase Two of work to expand the airport in the north of the West African country began in July 2019. The new terminal building will be able to handle 400,000 passengers a year.
This is a modest figure, but the country’s government sees Tamale as opening up the north of the country, as well as acting as a diversion airport in the event that the country’s main hub, Kotoka International Airport in the capital, Accra, is out of action for any reason.
Opening the new terminal, Ghana’s vice-president, Mahamudu Bawumia said that it is “expected to provide good impetus for increased trading activities and reinforce the status is Tamale as a sub-Saharan hub airport for regional flights to and from neighboring West African countries in the Sahel region.” It is anticipated that domestic services will also be spurred by the new terminal.
The new airport also has a separate facility for Muslim pilgrims: “Significantly, it’s expected that the airport will make Tamale the ‘Haj hub’ in Ghana, to facilitate seamless travel directly to Saudi Arabia for the seasonal pilgrimage,” Bawumia said.
The government also hopes that the new airport will act as a magnet to draw new aerospace activities to the site – notably MRO and cargo facilities, as well as aviation training activities.
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