Tamale Airport to serve as growth pole

Over the last decade or so, the air transport industry has witnessed phenomenal growth.

Many years ago, the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) was a terminal for a few airlines that could be counted on the fingers, but today, every notable airline in the world finds Accra a conducive business destination. 

Although the KIA is smaller, compared with the so-called big airports of the world, the passenger traffic is big enough to help the airlines to remain going concerns.

Ghana has virtually become the hub for the aviation industry in the sub-region, despite the economic might of countries such as Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. It is common knowledge that citizens of West African countries trek to Accra to fly to destinations in Europe, America and Asia.

Aviation industry players have posited that for Ghana to reap the gains from the aviation business, the government should be able to attract the desired investment to expand airport infrastructure across the country. 

The experts have also suggested that the growth in the industry will benefit the economy more if domestic flights are extended to transport transit passengers to their destinations in Ghana and elsewhere in the sub-region.

In the same period, domestic flights to Kumasi, Sunyani, Tamale and Takoradi have grown in leaps and bounds. contributing significantly to the growth of the national economy.

We appreciate the efforts of the government to upgrade facilities at the KIA and the Kumasi and the Tamale airports, but more ought to be done to bring the facilities, especially at the KIA, to international standards.

The government should not shelve the plan to construct a new international airport at Prampram, near Accra, while the efforts at upgrading the KIA should go on.

While nobody contests the fact that the growth in the aviation industry is good for the economy, there is a school of thought that the construction of an international airport in Tamale will not yield the desired economic returns. 

Some of the people even argue that it is a misplaced priority.

But touching on the benefits to be derived from the Tamale International Airport, President John Mahama said it was not just to carry passengers.

“This part of the country has good arable land for agro processing. This has not been harnessed because there is no good air transport. As such, exporting vegetables is always a problem. The completion of the project will, therefore, allow for the export of agro vegetables directly to the European market,” he said.

Whatever the merits or demerits of the project in Tamale are, the Daily Graphic thinks the long-term benefits of the project will not be seen now.

But, at least, we are sure that the Tamale Airport will serve as a growth pole to help open up the northern part of the country to the rest of the world and countries in the Sahelian region of West Africa and beyond.

In our assessment of the project, we should look back to other projects considered prestigious in the immediate post-independence era, such as the Tema Motorway, the Akosombo Dam and the Tema Harbour, but which are today playing key roles in our economic development.

We should support the Tamale Airport project, as it is bound to stimulate economic growth on completion.