Test run of $145m Kumasi Airport begins January 2022
Test run for the €125 million ($145 million) newly-constructed Kumasi International Airport is expected to begin in January, ahead of the operationalization of the facility for scheduled and charter flights in October, 2022.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made this known when he paid a working visit to Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, as part of his four-day working visit to the Ashanti Region.
The construction of the Kumasi International Airport, according to the contractor, is currently 77% complete, and is expected to be completed and handed over to government in October 2022.
On June 6, 2018, the President cut the sod for the commencement of work on Phase Two of the Kumasi Airport Project, where he indicated that “the expansion of this airport is a critical part of government’s vision to expand the frontiers of the aviation industry in the country and to realise the dream of making Ghana an aviation hub in West Africa.”
Inspecting work on the site, the President was told that the terminal building was 88% complete, the road network 93% complete, the Apron 89% complete, with the air traffic control and rescue and firefighting services 53% complete.
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The scope of work includes the extension of existing runway pavement from 1,981 metres to 2,320 metres, the construction of a new taxi link and apron, two new apron parking stands, aeronautical ground lighting systems, the design and building of a terminal with the capacity to handle 800,000 passengers per annum, an 11 MW substation, as well the provision of new bulk utility (electricity, water, sewage treatment system, internet etc.) services, independent of the existing utility services for the existing airport facilities.
Phase three of the project involves the construction of the air traffic control building, a fire building station, as well as the expansion of the existing runway pavement. The construction of the fuel farm is to be funded by GOIL.
With the project being constructed by Messrs. Contracta Construction UK Limited, the total project sum is €124.9 million, with financing from Santander, Deutche Bank, and UKEF.
President Akufo-Addo expressed satisfaction with the progress of work undertaken so far, and charged the Ministry of Transport as well as the Contractor to ensure that the October 2022 deadline for completion is met.
