President John Mahama has proposed that Ghana’s new national airline explore direct routes to South America and the Caribbean, a plan announced during talks with Suriname’s President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons in New York on September 23, 2026. The proposal aims to boost trade, tourism, investment, and people-to-people exchanges across the Atlantic, but it raises questions about passenger demand and aviation security amid recent drug trafficking concerns.
The idea of connecting Ghana with the Caribbean and South America is not new. In August 2026, during a visit to Jamaica, Mahama and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness agreed to speed up work on a Bilateral Air Services Agreement to enable direct flights between Accra and Montego Bay. The Presidency confirmed this on August 3, 2026.
However, the available passenger data from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) does not clearly show how many travelers currently fly between Ghana and these regions. The GCAA’s 2025 international aviation statistics show over 2.5 million passenger movements, split roughly evenly between arrivals and departures. But the data groups passengers by broad regions, such as Europe, East Africa, West Africa, North America, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Africa. A category labeled “Others” accounted for just 10,276 passenger movements in 2025, with no specific breakdown for South America or the Caribbean.
This gap in data leaves unanswered how much existing demand there is for direct flights from Ghana to countries like Brazil, Suriname, Colombia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, or Barbados. The missing details raise questions about the government’s passenger-demand analysis for the new routes. It’s unclear whether the national carrier plans to serve an existing pool of travelers who currently connect through other hubs or if the airline is expected to generate new demand by itself.
Launching long-haul routes typically requires enough passenger traffic, suitable aircraft, consistent load factors, and revenues that cover operating costs. The government and its prospective strategic partner for the airline may face scrutiny over whether detailed route studies have been done. Such studies would ideally include projections for passenger numbers, flight frequency, aircraft needs, costs, and expected revenues.
Beyond the commercial questions, the plan comes at a time when Ghana faces intense scrutiny over drug trafficking. Since 2025, the country has appeared in several major international narcotics cases. These include the seizure of over 3.3 tonnes of cocaine in Cape Coast, 73 cocaine slabs hidden in wooden artefacts at Kotoka International Airport, a 320kg methamphetamine shipment intercepted in Australia, 866 parcels of suspected cocaine concealed in gari at Tema, and nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine reportedly shipped from Ghana and seized in France.
South America remains a major source of cocaine globally, with Colombia, Peru, and Brazil identified as key departure countries in the 2026 World Drug Report. Brazil also features in trafficking routes to Africa and Europe. This makes aviation security a critical issue for Ghana as it considers new direct air links with that region.
There is no public evidence linking the proposed national airline to narcotics trafficking, nor any indication that the government intends to use it to transport illicit drugs. The focus is on whether Ghana’s current aviation and border security measures can prevent criminal networks from exploiting new routes. This includes passenger screening, baggage checks, cargo inspection, customs controls, and intelligence sharing among agencies responsible for border and aviation security.
The commercial and security aspects of the proposed expansion are separate but both demand attention. Passenger numbers between Ghana and South America or the Caribbean are not clearly established in official data, leaving the viability of direct routes uncertain. At the same time, the existing drug trafficking cases increase pressure on authorities to ensure new air links do not become channels for illicit activity.
As Ghana pushes ahead with its national airline plans, the government will need to address these challenges carefully. How it balances the economic goals with security risks will shape the success and credibility of the new carrier on these transatlantic routes.
According to Joy Online.
