The Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, has stressed the need for Ghana’s proposed national airline to operate on a commercially sustainable business model to prevent a repeat of the collapse of the defunct Ghana Airways.
She said the success of the new carrier would depend on strong corporate governance, effective management practices and financial discipline, which are essential to ensuring its competitiveness and long-term survival. Speaking at GACL’s 20th Anniversary Lecture and Awards Ceremony, Mrs Opare noted that the history of Ghana Airways provided valuable lessons that should shape the establishment and management of the proposed national carrier.
Ghana Airways commenced operations in March 1958, with Accra serving as its operational hub, but was eventually liquidated in 2009. According to Mrs Opare, the factors that contributed to the airline’s collapse must guide the government’s approach to establishing a new carrier, particularly by ensuring that past management and operational failures are not repeated.
“The lessons of the past must inform the decisions we make today, particularly the dos and the don’ts when new opportunity arises. “As we look forward to the reestablishment of a new national airline under the leadership of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, we must ensure that the lessons of the past will inform a sustainable business model, sound corporate governance, disciplined management and above all, a commercially viable operations.
“His Excellency’s objective is not simply to establish an airline, but to establish one that can succeed, compete and endure. Before long, we’ll see our beautiful new national airline once again flying the skies,” she said.
