President John Dramani Mahama has cut the sod to signify the start of construction on a multi-purpose car park and hotel complex at the Accra International Airport.
The project, expected to provide about 2,030 parking bays, will also include two hotels with a combined 370 rooms.
President Mahama said the project and other ongoing infrastructure works at the airport are being financed by the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) using their own internally generated resources, with no funding from central government. "The government of Ghana has not given any of the two institutions one single cedi for these projects," he said.
Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony on Thursday morning, August 27, 2026, Mahama urged the two institutions to continue using their own resources to develop airport infrastructure. He said a new air traffic control tower is being financed from the GCAA's balance sheet, while the car park and hotel complex, along with other GACL infrastructure projects, are being financed from GACL's own resources.
The Managing Director of GACL, Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, said the project would also generate non-aeronautical revenue for GACL through parking, retail, dining and hotel operations. She said the development is sited on the landside of the airport and will be open to the general public, distinguishing it from the Terminal 2 and 3 connecting concourse, located on the airside, for which Mahama cut sod earlier this year.
GACL's Director of Airports Planning and Projects, Emmanuel Mensah, said the building will have 15 floors, including two basement levels, comprising parking floors, a shopping mall and hotel facilities. He said the complex will house a 120-room five-star hotel and a 250-room three-star hotel, alongside a food court, retail and office space, a sky lounge, an observatory and an 80-metre pedestrian sky bridge linking the facility to Terminal 3.
The project consultant is Avant Garde Design Services, while GACL said the contractor is a joint venture between Yaoadu Development Limited, China Railway Engineering Group and Fino International, with Yaoadu Development Limited as the lead partner.
The Minister of Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, said the ministry is monitoring other ongoing aviation infrastructure projects, including the repurposing of Terminal 2, runway expansion works and upgrades to air navigation and surveillance systems. He also referred to an earlier airport project for which Mahama cut sod during his first term in office, noting that it had not yet been formally commissioned, and appealed to the President to continue engaging with the relevant institutions on outstanding airport projects.
President Mahama said passenger traffic through the Accra International Airport had increased from 1.8 million in 2022 to 2.5 million in 2025, and that the growth in passenger numbers was part of the reasoning behind the new development.
GACL said the car park and hotel complex is expected to be completed within 24 months.
