Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, Paul Adom-Otchere, has confirmed the first direct flight from London Gatwick to the Prempeh I International Airport in Kumasi was chartered.

Mr Adom-Otchere disclosed this on Asempa FM Ekosii Sen programme Friday following the arrival of the Ethiopian Airlines flight ETH8719 in Kumasi.

“It is a chartered flight by GACL we are using it to demonstrate that indeed you can fly from Gatwick to Kumasi. We’ll recoup our monies later. Sometimes we do that for religious programmes like Hajj and others.

“We have done it today and it will be done on December 15 and by January, we will know that within three times a week, you can fly from Gatwick or Heathrow to Kumasi. So today’s exercise was to demonstrate yes it is possible,” he stated.

The flight which is the first international touched down at about 10:30 am on Friday, December 6, 2024.

Although Mr Adom-Otchere did not disclose the exact cost involved, he emphasised that it is part of Ghana’s broader goal to enhance the air transport network.

“We are building infrastructure in routes and hope to soon become the second country in West Africa that runs two international Airport after Nigeria. We will recoup the money in subsequent flights. It is not everything you get your money immediately and that is how airlines work like that and once it develops, you can recoup the money,” he stated.

Clarifying concerns over the delayed flight which was initially scheduled to arrive on December 3, he said paperwork were still ongoing.

“There was an extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders including Ethiopian Airlines, Ghana’s High Commissioner in London, the UK High Commission and the Transport Ministry in London among others. Also, international engineers had to track and verify the existence of the airport,” he explained.