The 2027 Budget sets aside GH¢69 million for "preparatory works towards the establishment of a national airline". That is 9.5% of the GH¢724 million allocated to the Ministry of Transport, and about US$5.9 million at the Bank of Ghana's 13 November mid-rate.
Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson read the figure in Parliament on Thursday 12 November (Budget Speech para 592; Budget Statement para 1555). The same ministry allocation includes GH¢400 million for high-occupancy buses and GH¢174 million for railway development.
The buses are allocated 5.8 times as much as the airline groundwork. These are planned allocations, not money released or spent.
The line is new. A text search of the 2025 and 2026 Budget Statements and Speeches finds no mention of an airline. The 2026 Statement (para 541) mentioned design studies for a maintenance, repair and overhaul hub at Kotoka "to attract regional carriers", not a national airline.
Planned allocations in the Budget, not money released or spent. Total GH¢724 million.
Source: 2027 Budget Statement, para 1555. The GH¢69 million is for preparatory works towards a national airline, not the cost of the airline itself.
A tight timetable
The Ministry of Transport invited strategic partners on 28 April 2026, as Graphic and Citi Newsroom reported.
The partner must be an operating airline, a subsidiary of one, or a consortium authorised by one, and will hold the majority stake. Fleet deployment was targeted for "not later than Q1 of 2027". AviationGhana reported that the request gave the government an initial 10% carried interest, with an option to buy 15% more.
That would cap the state's share at 25%. Graphic and Citi did not report those percentages, and we have not seen the full request.
On 6 November, after a meeting with Boeing officials, the Presidency said a roadmap had been agreed, according to the Ghana News Agency. It still involves finding a strategic airline partner and a technical partner, obtaining an Air Operator Certificate, choosing a fleet and settling the financing.
In September, MyJoyOnline reported that Boeing had said the airline could fly "within approximately 18 months". Measured from that 27 September report, that points to about March 2028.
Class FM, in a 12 November report, quoted Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as saying: "President Mahama's target that next year, 2027, we should have Ghana Airways back in the skies." Class FM did not say when he said it.
What people on X are saying
@NewsaeroEn wrote that "Ghana's government has allocated approximately $5.9 million in its 2027 budget". That conversion holds: GH¢69 million at the Bank of Ghana mid-rate of GH¢11.6900 is US$5.90 million.
The market it would enter
Accra's airport handled 2,540,725 international passengers in 2025, Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) data show. That is 8.2% more than in 2024 and 20.4% above the pre-pandemic 2019 figure of 2,110,593.
In the first half of 2026 it handled 1,415,245, already 55.7% of the 2025 total. Domestic passengers numbered 903,227 in 2025.
Source: Ghana Airports Company Limited, Traffic Statistics. Labels are millions, rounded. 2025 was 2,540,725 passengers.
What it means
The money is for groundwork. The plan the ministry described in April puts the cost of the airline itself on a private partner. AviationGhana noted that it is unclear whether the GH¢69 million covers advisers, regulatory work or studies.
The Budget documents give no breakdown. StatsGH did not ask the Ministry of Transport or the Ministry of Finance for comment today. We found no statement naming a chosen partner.
That is about 18 pesewas in every GH¢1,000 of the GH¢389.2 billion cash-basis expenditure estimated in the speech. Our earlier story on the 2027 capital budget sets out where the larger sums go.
Limitations
The 10% and 15% stake terms come from AviationGhana's reports of the April request. We have not seen the full document, and Graphic and Citi did not report those percentages. GACL's 2025 international count differs from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority's 2,539,034 by 1,691 passengers.
We use the airport operator's figure. Neither dataset shows how many passengers flew Ghana-registered airlines. The "about March 2028" date is our arithmetic on Boeing's reported 18 months, measured from MyJoyOnline's 27 September 2026 report, not an official date.
Sources
- Ministry of Finance, 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, paras 1554–1555 (12 Nov 2026)
- Ministry of Finance, 2027 Budget Speech, paras 563, 591–592 (12 Nov 2026)
- Ministry of Finance, 2026 Budget Statement, para 541; 2025 and 2026 Budget Statements and Speeches (text searched)
- Ghana News Agency, "2027 Budget allocates GHS100.4bn for capital expenditure, GHS28bn to Big Push" (12 Nov 2026)
- Citi Newsroom, "2027 budget: GH¢28bn allocated to Big Push programme" (12 Nov 2026)
- Ghana News Agency, "Mahama meets Boeing officials for Ghana's national Airline project" (6 Nov 2026)
- MyJoyOnline, "Preliminary studies affirm viability of proposed national airline" (6 Nov 2026)
- MyJoyOnline, "Ghana could have national airline back in skies within 18 months – Boeing to Mahama" (27 Sep 2026)
- Pulse Ghana, "Ghana partners with Boeing to establish a new National Airline" (10 Nov 2026)
- Class FM, "Over GH¢60 million allotted to bring back 'Ghana Airways' in 2027" (12 Nov 2026)
- Graphic Online, "Government invites strategic partners for establishment of new national airline" (28 Apr 2026)
- Citi Newsroom, "Ghana opens bids for strategic partner in new national airline" (28 Apr 2026)
- AviationGhana, "Ghana Targets Q1 2027 Launch for New National Airline" (29 Apr 2026)
- AviationGhana, "2027 Budget: Ghana's GH¢69m Airline Budget Raises Funding Questions" (12 Nov 2026)
- Ghana Airports Company Ltd, Traffic Statistics (to first half 2026)
- Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, 2025 General Statistics – International
- Bank of Ghana, Daily Interbank FX Rates (USD/GHS mid 11.6900, 13 Nov 2026)
- StatsGH, 2027 capex story
- X posts: https://x.com/NewsaeroEn/status/2121483273054388378 https://x.com/NewsaeroEn/status/2121483273461280963