Ho Airport can be made functional

There was excitement in Ho, the capital of the Volta Region, when the sod was cut for work to commence on the airport project in September, 2015.

It would be an understatement to say that there was hope that the airport would help open up the region to trade and tourism when completed.

This was evident in the large number of people who thronged the project site in such a jubilant mood.

In the words of the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State and President of the Asogli Traditional Area, Togbe Afede XIV, on the day of the sod-cutting, “there cannot be a better symbol of development than an airport in Ho”.

It is, however, disheartening that nearly six years after its completion and inauguration, the $25 million airport is yet to be fully utilised to justify the huge investment sunk into the edifice due to the absence of commercial passenger flight service.

Passion Air, which started commercial flights to the facility in December 2021, halted operations in March 2022, citing rising costs amid the low number of passengers.

Its sole competitor, Africa World Airlines (AWA), also suspended plans to commence operations on that route after a test-flight in April 2021 and a market analysis found that the prospects were dim.

Due to this development, the airport has almost become a ghost town as captured in the February 23, 2024 issue of the Daily Graphic.

This information came up when a Daily Graphic team visited the airport on February 15, when it had become obvious that there was virtually no activity there.

The team spent about two hours in the vicinity but there was no sign of an aircraft or visitors.

The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) officers on duty maintained, however, that the facility still received high-level government officials, and military and pilot training aircraft.

Despite its idleness, it was refreshing to observe that the airport was in good shape and was being well maintained.

Information sourced from the GACL showed that about GH¢2.42 million has been spent to maintain the facility in the last two years, after commercial operations were halted.

This means that the facility, which was once envisaged to open up the region, although idle, is still costing the state an average of GH¢1.21 million per year to maintain.

Nonetheless, the Daily Graphic finds it welcoming that the GACL was in discussions with AWA and its partners, Aviation Academy Ghana, to develop an Aviation Training Organisation (ATO) at the airport.

This includes the construction of an aircraft maintenance hangar and the development of an internationally recognised pilot training school offering European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification.

Towards that, the GACL made an offer to AWA for land to develop the ATO, which has been accepted.

The paper is delighted that all these initiatives point to the fact that the airport can be made active.

We believe that the development of the ATO, for instance, would be the catalyst to draw other commercial activities, which will in turn create the ideal conditions for the domestic airlines to restart commercial passenger flights to the airport.

The Daily Graphic, therefore, calls on all stakeholders to help rejuvenate the facility for it to generate revenue and become profitable.

We are optimistic that the proposed pilot training centre would serve as a game-changer to help keep the airport busy.

An airport does not necessarily have to be busy with commercial flights to be successful; it could be used for other services to even bring in more revenue.

The GACL must also find other proactive ways to make the airport more functional.

 For example, the company can consider making travel from Accra to Aflao by air more exciting by coming up with competitive fares from Accra to Ho, where buses would already be waiting for the passengers to continue their journey to Aflao.

Conversely, it should be possible for travellers from Togo to board similar buses provided at Aflao to the airport in Ho to continue their journey to Accra and other destinations.

It will also not be bad for the GACL to reflect on collaborating with the Ghana Tourism Authority to ferry tourists to the many attractions in the Volta Region using the Ho Airport, especially during events such as December in GH and Ghana Month.

Some of these and others we anticipate would make the Ho Airport functional to fulfil the goals of the investment.