Accra · Flights and airlines
Accra International Airport: Airlines, Routes and Why Your Flight Stops in Abidjan
It is not called Kotoka any more. Twenty-eight airlines serve fifty-two destinations from here, a record 3.6 million passengers passed through last year, and a great many of those flights are not the direct services people think they booked. Here is how it actually works — and where to find live times that are true this minute rather than last season.
On this page
Live arrivals and departures
We are not going to print a timetable. Flight times change by the minute, schedules shift twice a year, and any list published on a travel page is wrong within days. Anyone showing you fixed arrival times for Accra is showing you something stale.
Where to check, right now
Ghana Airports Company Limited — the authority that runs the airport — does not operate its own flight board either. Its official arrivals and departures page is powered by Airportia. So that is where we send you, along with the alternatives worth knowing.
GACL official arrivals & departures Airportia — live ACC board Flightera — ACC delays & historyMeeting someone? Check the board before you leave for the airport and again on the way. Arrivals from Europe and the Gulf routinely shift by an hour, and the multi-stop routings described below make delays compound.
The name, and why it keeps changing
The airport opened as Accra International Airport. In 1969 it was renamed Kotoka International Airport in honour of Lieutenant General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, who led the 1966 coup that removed Kwame Nkrumah and was himself killed in an attempted counter-coup the following year.
In February 2026 it went back to Accra International Airport.
Ghana has now spent fifty-seven years arguing about what to call the building people arrive in. If that sounds familiar, look at the presidential palace.
Practically, none of this affects you. The code is still ACC, the runway is the same runway, and if you tell a taxi driver “Kotoka” he will know exactly where you mean. But it is worth knowing why booking confirmations, airline apps and half the internet still show one name while the signage shows another.
Who actually flies here
As of August 2026, twenty-eight airlines operate from Accra to fifty-two airports. That is a substantial network for a West African capital and it is the reason Accra functions as a genuine gateway rather than a spur.
Europe
British Airways, Brussels Airlines, KLM, TAP Air Portugal, ITA Airways and Turkish Airlines. Most European services operate overnight in one direction — which is why the arrivals hall is chaotic first thing in the morning and comparatively calm by mid-afternoon.
North America
Delta and United. Note carefully: several transatlantic services to West Africa route through another African city rather than flying Accra non-stop, so “direct” on a booking site does not always mean what you assume. See the next section.
The Gulf and Middle East
Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad and Middle East Airlines. Etihad expanded its Africa network from Abu Dhabi in April 2026.
Africa
Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, RwandAir, South African Airways, EgyptAir, Royal Air Maroc, Air Tanzania, ASKY Airlines, Air Côte d’Ivoire, Air Burkina, Air Peace, Ibom Air, United Nigeria, ValueJet, and Ghana’s own Africa World Airlines. Ethiopian has been running up to fourteen weekly Accra–Addis Ababa services. Ibom Air began scheduled Uyo–Accra flights in June 2026.
Domestic
Africa World Airlines and PassionAir. Covered in full below.
Why your flight stops somewhere else first
This is the part nobody explains, and it catches out a remarkable number of travellers — including experienced ones.
West Africa is served heavily by what the industry calls fifth-freedom or tag flights: an aircraft flies from its home hub to one West African city, sets down and picks up passengers, then continues to a second West African city before returning. Your ticket may say Accra. The aeroplane is going somewhere else first.
Accra to Abidjan is flown non-stop by five carriers — Air Côte d’Ivoire, Emirates, Middle East Airlines, Qatar Airways and South African Airways. Four of those are not West African airlines. They are running Abidjan as a tag on a longer routing, which is exactly why an Emirates aircraft bound for Accra may put down in Abidjan on the way.
Turkish Airlines added Istanbul–Monrovia via Accra in May 2026 — the same pattern. Ethiopian Airlines is the world’s largest operator of fifth-freedom flights, running services from Newark and Washington Dulles to Lomé and from New York JFK to Abidjan, all continuing to Addis Ababa, with Accra passengers connecting onward.
What this means for you, practically. Your journey may be an hour or two longer than the timetable’s headline suggests. You may not disembark at the intermediate stop, or you may be asked to leave the aircraft and reboard. Delays compound down the chain, so an aircraft late out of Dubai will be later still into Accra. And when meeting someone, the flight number matters more than the departure city — check the actual routing rather than assuming.
Read the routing before you book, not after you land in a country you had not planned to visit.
Ghana’s domestic network
Ghana is not a large country, but the roads make it feel like one. Accra to Tamale is up to twelve hours by car and roughly an hour in the air. That gap is the entire business case for domestic aviation here.
PassionAir
The largest domestic carrier, with roughly half the market. Founded 2017, flying since August 2018, operating Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprops from its Accra base. Serves Kumasi, Tamale, Takoradi, Wa and Sunyani, and also flies Tamale–Wa directly without routing through Accra. Bookable online, by app, and by mobile money.
Africa World Airlines (AWA)
Founded in 2010 by Togbe Afede XIV and flying since September 2012, operating Embraer ERJ-145 jets and Dash 8-400s. Domestically it serves Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi, with up to eight flights a day on the Accra–Kumasi route. It also flies regionally to Lagos, Abuja, Freetown, Monrovia, Abidjan, Dakar and Ouagadougou — making it the only Ghanaian carrier with a meaningful international network.
Charter and specialist
GianAir and McDan Aviation operate charter, cargo and medical evacuation rather than scheduled passenger services.
A note on the history. Ghana’s domestic aviation has a graveyard behind it. Antrak Air flew Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Sunyani and Takoradi from 2003 and ceased operations in 2012. Others came and went before it. The two carriers flying today are the survivors of a market that has proved repeatedly difficult, which is worth remembering before assuming any route is permanent.
The regional airports, honestly
Ghana has more airports than it has scheduled commercial service. Several were built or upgraded with real ambition and are used far below capacity. Here is the current picture rather than the aspirational one.
Kumasi (KMS) — Ashanti Region
The busiest domestic route in the country. Both AWA and PassionAir serve it, with up to eight AWA flights a day. Upgraded towards international standard. About an hour from Accra.
Tamale (TML) — Northern Region
Ghana’s northern gateway and the sensible way to reach Mole National Park, Larabanga and the Savannah Region. Both carriers serve it. Upgraded to international standard, and it handles Hajj operations.
Takoradi (TKD) — Western Region
Serving the twin cities of Sekondi-Takoradi and the offshore oil industry, which is much of the reason the route exists. Both carriers serve it.
Wa (WZA) — Upper West Region
Served by PassionAir, including a direct Tamale–Wa service. The alternative is a very long drive. Frequencies are limited — check current schedules rather than assuming daily service.
Sunyani (NYI) — Bono Region
Served by PassionAir. Has had periods of dormancy in the past, so confirm before planning around it.
Ho (HZO) — Volta Region
Built and commissioned, and without scheduled commercial passenger service. If you are travelling to Ho, you are driving — roughly three to four hours from Accra depending on traffic out of the city.
Airport transfers and Ghana tours
Arranging your arrival transfer before you land removes the single most stressful part of arriving in Accra — negotiating a fare at the kerb after a long flight, in the dark, having just cleared immigration. Transfers, Accra city tours and coastal trips to Cape Coast and Elmina can all be booked in advance, most with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Bookings through this widget earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. We have no arrangement with any individual operator and no operator has paid to appear on this page.
Arriving at Accra
Before you board, anywhere
Ghana requires an approved travel authorisation or visa obtained in advance. Check the current requirements properly rather than assuming — entry rules across West Africa have changed repeatedly in recent years, and airlines refuse boarding without documentation.
Yellow fever
A valid certificate is required for entry to Ghana. Vaccinate at least ten days before travel, because the certificate only becomes valid after that. It is checked on arrival.
Terminal 3
International services use Terminal 3, opened after a US$274 million build with capacity for five million passengers a year. It is a genuinely modern facility — a considerable change from what long-standing visitors will remember.
Immigration and baggage
Allow real time. When several long-haul arrivals land within the same window — which happens most mornings — queues build quickly. Have your documentation to hand rather than in the overhead locker.
Getting into the city
Ride-hailing apps operate and are the simplest option for a first arrival. Taxis are fine if you agree the fare before getting in. The airport sits within Accra rather than outside it, so journeys into Osu, Cantonments or Airport Residential are short — in distance. Traffic is the variable.
The verdict
Accra is a genuine gateway rather than an outpost. Twenty-eight airlines, fifty-two destinations, a record 3.6 million passengers and a modern terminal put it among the better-connected airports in West Africa — and the domestic network, though small, will save you a twelve-hour drive north.
Two things to carry with you. Check the actual routing of your flight rather than the headline city pair, because a great many services into West Africa put down somewhere else on the way. And check live boards rather than any published timetable, including ours — the only accurate arrival time is the one showing right now.
Connected reading on ghana-net.com
Verified: 25 August 2026.
Airport redesignation to Accra International Airport effective 23 February 2026; passenger figures, Terminal 3 cost and capacity, and operator details per Ghana Airports Company Limited and published records. Airline and destination counts — 28 airlines to 52 airports — as at August 2026 per published route data. Domestic carrier fleets, routes and market share per Africa World Airlines, PassionAir and Ghana Airports Company Limited traffic statistics. Fifth-freedom and tag routings described from published airline schedule data; specific routings change with each seasonal schedule and must be confirmed at the time of booking. We deliberately publish no flight times. Schedules change constantly and any timetable printed on a travel page is misleading within days — use the live boards linked above, including the one Ghana Airports Company Limited itself uses. Entry requirements and health rules change without notice; confirm with a Ghanaian mission before travelling.