The Ministry of Aviation has cited false news making rounds on social media that the President of the Republic will hand over five (5) aircraft to the Ministry today to commence the operations of the Home Based Carrier.
This is certainly not true as no agreement has been signed yet with the strategic partner so far identified. This would have to get the consent of Cabinet and Parliament.
We wish to let the public know that we are at an advanced stage in our negotiations with EgyptAir on a Strategic Partnership arrangement to relaunch a National Flag Carrier but the matter has not yet received Cabinet and certainly not Parliamentary Approval.
These two processes have yet to be carried out, an Air Carrier License (ACL) obtained before an Air Operator Certification (AOC) granted by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) before we can take delivery of and operate any airline or use any aircraft.
It is indeed true that when Cabinet and Parliament finally do respectively approve and ratify the Partnership Agreement, the new Flag Carrier will commence operations with at least five (5) aircraft.
However, we wish to state that the President is not yet delivering the aircraft as those processes have not been concluded.
The Ministry of Aviation and indeed the Government of the New Patriotic Party is quite optimistic and hopeful that this agreement will go through this year to place the Black Star back in the sky to give Ghanaians the benefit of air service under the national flag but it is not today.
We therefore ask the general public to disregard the false news that His Excellency the President will deliver five (5) aircraft to the Ministry of Aviation today.
Background
The Government of Ghana (GoG) and Cairo-based EgyptAir n October 21, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a new national airline.
The selection of EgyptAir as Ghana’s strategic partner for the launch of the new home-based carrier followed series of engagement with the senior management team of the airline and the committee of aviation experts constituted by the Aviation Ministry.
Ethiopian Airlines was previously selected to be GoG’s strategic partner in establishing a new national airline, but due to the lack of agreement over key issues such as routes, funding, tenure of the management contract among others, led to the airline being dropped as Government’s strategic partner for a new home-based carrier.
EgyptAir, according to sources, offered a better deal in terms of funding for the new airline, routes, fleet and personnel– with Ghanaians expected to play key roles in the new entity once established.
