Accra International Airport in brief

All 24 airlines Today's arrivals ETA and e-Visa

Kotoka or Accra? The name, explained

When Kwame Nkrumah's government opened the new airport in 1958, on the site of the wartime air base, it was called Accra International Airport. In 1969 the military government renamed it after Lieutenant General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, one of the leaders of the 1966 coup that overthrew Nkrumah, who was killed during a failed counter-coup in April 1967 at a spot that is now the airport forecourt.

The name was argued over for decades. On 23 February 2026 the Ministry of Transport restored the original name, Accra International Airport. The government said it wanted an internationally recognised, neutral name, and to honour the people of Accra whose land was taken for the airport. Supporters called it the correction of a historical anomaly; critics said it reopened old political wounds. The airport codes ACC and DGAA stay the same, so your tickets and luggage tags are not affected.

Arriving in Accra: what to expect

• Papers ready: passport, ETA or visa confirmation, yellow fever card and the address where you are staying. Immigration may ask for all of them.
• Queues: evening arrivals from Europe and the Gulf often land close together. Immigration can take from 20 minutes to well over an hour.
• Baggage: trolleys are free. Ignore anyone who takes your trolley or bags without being asked; they will expect money.
• Money: ATMs and exchange bureaux are in the arrivals hall. Change only a little; rates in town are better.
• SIM cards: MTN, Telecel and AT sell SIM cards at the airport. You need your passport, or a Ghana Card if you are resident.
• Into town: Uber and Bolt work well from the airport. Official taxis wait outside, but agree the fare first. Osu or Labone are fifteen minutes away at night and an hour or more at rush hour.
• Meeting someone? The public waits outside the arrivals exit. Check our live arrivals board before you leave home.

Parking and drop-off in 2026: things have changed

In July 2026 the old Terminal 3 car park was closed and relocated to make room for construction. On 27 August 2026 President Mahama cut the sod for a new seven-storey car park and commercial complex at Terminal 3, with about 2,000 spaces, shops, restaurants, a sky-view lounge, an airport hotel and conference rooms, connected to the terminal by a pedestrian bridge.

From RAF Accra to Terminal 3

The airfield began during the Second World War as a military base, RAF Accra, part of the chain of Gold Coast airfields, from Takoradi to Tamale, that carried Allied aircraft across Africa. After the war it became the colony's civil airport. In 1958, a year after independence, Nkrumah's government completed a new airport here with a capacity of 500,000 passengers a year and called it Accra International Airport. Ghana Airways, the new national airline, made it its home.

The Air Force never left: its base still lies on the far side of the runway. The old terminals were extended many times. Then, in 2018, came Terminal 3, a huge new building with boarding bridges, which opened to passengers on 15 September 2018 and was formally inaugurated on 2 October 2018. Since then traffic has grown from about 1.8 million passengers in 2022 to 3.6 million in 2025.

Takoradi and the wartime air route The rise and fall of Ghana Airways Cape Coast War Cemetery

After landing: Accra

• AccraOur full guide to the capital, on Ghana-Net.com.
• James Fort and JamestownOld Accra by the sea, and Brazil House.
• Osu CastleChristiansborg, the Danish castle and old seat of government.
• Kwame Nkrumah Memorial ParkWhere the founder of the airport and of modern Ghana is buried.
• National MuseumThe National Museum of Ghana, in our own photographs.
• Embassies in AccraMost are a short drive from the airport.

Read and listen

Live radio from all of Ghana's 16 regions, and from across Africa.

Ghana radio live All African Radio Stations Flight news