The Minister for Transport, Honourable Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has briefed the media on the government’s decision to revert the name of the Kotoka International Airport to its original name, Accra International Airport.
The engagement follows a press statement that was issued yesterday, 23rd February 2026, by the Ministry on behalf of the Government, announcing the reversal of the name of the airport to its historical name.
Addressing the media, Hon. Nikpe explained that the decision was informed by historical records and consultations. He noted that the facility was originally a British Royal Air Force base during the Second World War and was handed over to civilian administration in 1956. Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, subsequently developed it into a passenger terminal and named it Accra International Airport.
According to the Minister, the government considered several proposals and public discussions regarding the name, and following deliberations at Cabinet, resolved to restore the airport to its original identity. He clarified that the timing of the announcement, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was purely coincidental and not deliberate.
Responding to questions on the legal basis for the decision, Hon. Nikpe explained that the previous renaming was effected by a decree (NLCD 309), which primarily established a trust fund to support the families of soldiers who were killed during the 1966 coup. He added that the decree’s main objective was to set up the trust and not to enact legislation specifically governing the renaming of the airport.
The Minister emphasized that, in Ghana, airports are named by executive action and not through specific Acts of Parliament. He further explained that the current decision was executed through established executive processes.
“It was an executive order that was given to recognise somebody who was killed at the forecourt of the airport and the airport therefore named after him. In the vein the rightful thing is for us to again come through an executive order or announcement that the name has been reverted to its original name,” he reiterated.
He revealed that Ghana’s airport codes assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have remained unchanged to date even after the airport was renamed to Kotoka International Airport. As such, there will be no alterations at the international level.
According to the Minister, the exercise would not bear huge cost to the nation because the changes will largely involve updating signages and office materials. He noted that with signages, due to ongoing works at the airport and the repurposing of the terminal 2, to take on both international and domestic flights, and the connecting concourse to be built to link terminal 2 and 3, many of the signages and billboards would have undergone replacement due to the ongoing works at the airport. Therefore, these replacements would not come at huge cost to the Ghanaian taxpayer since the ongoing works would take on most of the cost.
With office materials he further explained that existing vendors responsible for printing and branding of materials for the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) would still be handling their updates and printing within the current operational arrangements and would only have to be changing and updating the name from “Kotoka to Accra” going forward when they are producing any material for the Company till the transition period was over.
Hon. Nikpe also emphasized that significant rehabilitation and upgrade works were ongoing at the airport and indicated that the process of the reverting the name would be implemented systematically alongside these infrastructure improvements to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Government, he assured, remains committed to transparency and would keep Ghanaians informed as the transition back to Accra International Airport has begun till it is completed.
