Today, we will look at what kinds of aircraft the national flag carrier of the African country of Ghana has operated over its long history. Before we get into that, though, let's first look at how Ghana Airways came to be and how it developed over the years.

The airline was founded on July 4, 1958, by the government of Ghana and the British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC). BOAC sent employees to Ghana to train local staff to get the airline off the ground. Before the agreement with the Ghanaian government in which BOAC received a 40% stake, BOAC and West African Airways pooled their resources for flights between West Africa and Europe.

A Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was used for the first flights between Accra and London

On July 16, 1958, BOAC began flying between Accra and London using a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. By the end of 1959, the Stratocruiser flights were replaced by Bristol Britannia 102s, and a new route to Conakry, Guinea, was introduced.

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Ghana Airways ordered eight Ilyushin Il-18s from the Soviet Union. Photo: Ronidong via Wikimedia Commons.

In 1960 Ghana Airways ordered three Vickers Viscounts. Despite having led Ghana to independence from Britain, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah was accused of being too aligned with the West. To prove his accusers wrong, he ordered six Ilyushin Il-18s from the Soviet Union. When the first two aircraft arrived, they were initially crewed and maintained by Soviet personnel while Ghanaians were trained up. In 1960, the Soviets also sold Ghana Airways a single Antonov An-12.

Ghana Airways became the first West African airline to fly to Lebanon

In January 1961, Ghana Airways placed an order with Boring for two Boeing 707-420s and England's Vickers for three VC-10s. Significant because of the large number of Lebanese people living in Ghana and the neighboring countries, Ghana Airways became the first West African airline to fly to Beirut in 1961.

Seeing Ghana Airways as an integral part of the country and its image overseas, the Ghanaian government bought out BOAC in February 1961. While codeshares with BOAC remained, by 1963, they were more or less non-existent. The same year, Ghana Airways joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA), becoming its 93rd member.

In September 1963, the airline returned four of their eight Il-18s after determining they were surplus to requirements. The following month, Ghana Airways signed a wet lease with Swissair to operate Convair 990 jetliners on the Accra-London route. In 1964 the airline's Viscounts were sold, and cooperation with Nigeria Airways began.

In 1966 President Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup with the new government promising to get rid of Ghana Airways loss-making routes.

The remaining Soviet aircraft, an Antonov An-12, and four Il-18s were retired with Nigerian Airways Fokker F27s used for domestic flights.

Ghana Airways begins flying to the USA

1975 saw the arrival of Ghana Airways first McDonnell Douglas DC-9s, and a year later, an order was placed for a McDonnell Douglas DC-10. While waiting for the widebody trijet to arrive, Ghana Airways leased a DC-10 from KLM.

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A Ghana Airways DC-10. Photo: Ken Fielding via Wikimedia Commons

In September 1994, Ghana Airways began a twice-weekly service to John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York with a DC-10 leased from Skyjet. The aircraft used for the New York flights was not long after replaced with an MD-11 leased from World Airways. In July 2000, Ghana Airways announced it would begin flights between Accra and its second American destination Baltimore, Maryland.

Ghana Airways was in financial trouble

In 2002 Ghana Airways was deep in debt and had a DC-10 seized by a creditor at Heathrow Airport in London. The airline admitted that it needed to find a partner to survive and, in 2003, signed an agreement with British Midland that saw an Airbus A330 used for long-haul flights.

In 2004, after ignoring warnings related to its aircraft safety, the United States banned Ghana Airways flights. Subsequently, the entire board was sacked with the Ghanaian government taking over operations. Unable to service its debt and the government's refusal to put in more money, Ghana Airways ceased operations in June 2005.

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source: Simple Flying 
Ghana Airways was the first West African airline to fly to Beirut. Photo: Bob Adams via Wikimedia Commons

In 2020 the Government of Ghana announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with EgyptAir to restart Ghana Airways. So far, nothing has materialized, and the airline has yet to resume flying.

Ghana Airways' historical fleet

According to the AeroTransport Data Bank, over its lifetime, Ghana Airways operated a fleet of the following aircraft:

  • 1 x DC-3 C-47B
  • 3 x DC-3 C-47A
  • 6 x B.377-10 Series
  • 2 x HS.748 Series 2A
  • 1 x HS.748 Series 2
  • 1 x F.27-600
  • 1 x F.27-400
  • 2 x F.27-200
  • 6 x Viscount 810
  • 2 x Britannia 300
  • 10 x Britannia 100
  • 1 x Comet 4
  • 2 x DC-8-50
  • 3 x DC-8-30
  • 4 x VC-10-1100
  • 1 x An-12
  • 8 x Il-18V
  • 1 x F.28-4000
  • 2 x F.28-2000
  • 2 x F.28-1000
  • 1 x B.707-320(A)
  • 2 x B.707-320C
  • 2 x B.707-420
  • 4 x CV-990 Series
  • 7 x DC-9-50
  • 5 x DC-9-30
  • 12 x DC-10 Series 30
  • 1 x MD-11P
  • 4 x A310-300
  • 1 x A330-300