Skip to main content

Ghana Airports Company: A US$30m Profit, and the Cost of Flying from Accra

11/06/2026

Flight news · Accra airport · 7 November 2026

Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), the state company that runs Accra International Airport and Ghana's regional airports, closed 2025 with a net profit of GH¢355.94 million, about US$30 million. It is paying the government its first dividend since the company was created. At the same time, everyone flying out of Accra now pays more than ever. Both facts are true, and together they raise the question this article looks at: who pays for Ghana's airport ambitions?

The figures

Ghana Airports Company, financial year 2025

  • Total income: GH¢2.48 billion, up from GH¢2.25 billion in 2024 (+10.6%).
  • Operating profit: GH¢832.24 million, an operating margin of about 44%.
  • Net profit: GH¢355.94 million, down 30.6% from GH¢513.17 million in 2024. Trade reports converted this to about US$30 million.
  • Total assets: GH¢10.23 billion.
  • Dividend: GH¢30 million set aside for the Government of Ghana, the first since the company was formed in 2007, announced at the 11th AGM by Managing Director Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare.
  • Passengers: about 3.6 million in 2025, up from 3.4 million in 2024.
  • Separately: the state collected GH¢1.56 billion in airport tax in 2025. That money is not part of GACL's income.

The headline "profit" needs one honest footnote: income grew, but net profit fell by almost a third. Revenue from GACL's core aviation and commercial business actually declined in 2025. The company stays solidly profitable, but this is not a boom year.

What passengers pay now

  • Since 1 February 2026: an US$18 Advance Passenger Information / Passenger Name Record (API/PNR) fee on return tickets.
  • Since 1 April 2026: the Airport Infrastructure Development Charge (AIDC): US$100 on international departures and GH¢100 on domestic flights, on top of all existing taxes and charges.

The airlines' association, the Board of Airline Representatives Ghana (BARGH), warned that the full levy could move Ghana from ninth to third place among the African countries with the highest passenger charges, behind only Gabon and Sierra Leone. Some travellers have already started crossing to Lomé or Abidjan to fly from there. The parliamentary minority called the levy unjustified, and tourism businesses say it adds cost pressure just as Ghana courts visitors.

The other side of the argument

The government and GACL argue that charges had not been properly revised for well over a decade, and that Accra cannot become West Africa's aviation hub on old rates. The AIDC money goes into a dedicated fund and escrow account under the Ministry of Transport. It is meant for a connecting concourse between Terminals 2 and 3, a 2,000-space car park at Terminal 3, and further airport projects. GACL's managing director put it plainly: imagine Ghana still relying only on Terminal 2 if Terminal 3 had never been built.

Our view

Both arguments have weight. Ghana needs the infrastructure, but passengers are paying now for buildings they will see years later, at a profitable airport company. The test will be whether the escrow fund is used transparently and on time. If the concourse and car park appear, the levy will be easier to accept. If they don't, it will look like one more charge on top of a fare that is already among Africa's highest.

The McDan Terminal 1 dispute

Terminal 1, the old domestic terminal, is also the scene of an open legal fight. In August 2022 McDan Aviation was licensed to run Ghana's first private-jet (FBO) terminal there. GACL locked the facility in February 2026 over what it says were years of unpaid rent, royalties and licence fees, and removed the equipment in March. McDan says GACL ignored a 90-day notice clause and a court process served on 10 March. GACL says it removed the items before it knew of any court filing, and that there was no sealed injunction. The case is before the Commercial Division of the High Court in Accra. We have not found a published ruling yet. Domestic flights now use Terminal 2.

Read more on GhanaFlights.info

Arriving in Accra? Airport pickup with free internet, private vehicle hire and day tours, booked before you land. Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but always welcome.

Search our Network. Start here.

Updated and fact-checked: 7 November 2026. Sources: GACL 2025 financial results and 11th AGM, Ministry of Finance 2025 tax revenue report, BARGH statements (February 2026), the Ministry of Transport, and statements by GACL and McDan Aviation (March 2026). Text and research by Remo Kurka for GhanaFlights.info. No Google advertising.