At the airport, there are many luggage carrousels. If nothing unexpected happens, the Kumasi International Airport might begin operating international flights as early as August this year, more than two months ahead of the projected completion date.
Contracta Construction UK Ltd, the contractors working on the airport expansion project, informed the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) in December of last year that the project would be finished by October 2022, according to their schedule.
According to the Project Manager, Alan Frazeto, who spoke to the REGSEC members during a tour of the project last Tuesday, “by September, Kumasi will have an airport that fulfills international aviation requirements and might be ready to begin flying international flights.”
This comes as a result of the steady progress made in the construction of the expansion project, which began in 2018. In the short time that has passed, construction of the terminal, including the installation of escalators, a luggage carousel, check-in areas, passenger boarding bridges, and other amenities, have been finished.
While the overall amount of work completed in phases two and three of the project is expected to be around 82 percent complete, the amount of work completed in the terminal is approximately 98 percent complete.
Tour
Members of the REGSEC have been visiting all of the key project sites in the area on a quarterly basis to keep themselves up to date on the progress of the construction.
A total of 15 projects being performed by Contracta in the area were visited by the team during the first quarter of this year. The only projects that were not visited were the second phase of the Kejetia Market redevelopment and the Baby and Maternity Block of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
Simulation
It was seen by the Daily Graphic during a visit to the airport project site on Tuesday last week that the contractor was conducting simulation exercises to ensure that the installed equipment was ready for a smooth takeoff later in the year.
The baggage carousel for both domestic and international flights was being repaired, and the check-in conveyors were being tested at the time of this writing.
Work on the new control tower and the utility building, which would contain the backup generator, fire tenders, and other emergency facilities, was moving briskly.
In his Daily Graphic report on the project, Mr Frazeto stated that there had been no major hitches, which had allowed work to progress ahead of the scheduled completion date. “And barring any unforeseen challenges, the remainder of the work currently underway should be completed and tested before September,” he added.
Satisfaction
Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah, who is in charge of the REGSEC team, stated his happiness with the development of the project and the possibility that they may finish it ahead of time. He expressed his admiration at the degree of progress made since the team’s last visit to the project, which occurred in December.
“As they promised, this implies that we will be able to finish the project even sooner than they anticipated.” They previously informed us that foreign planes will begin to arrive in October 2022, when we visited with the President of the United States.
“We have been notified today that we will be able to open up to foreign travel by August, which implies that they will be able to move more quickly, which is fantastic and admirable,” he added.
The airport, according to Mr Osei-Mensah, has nearly all of the basic facilities required for international flights. “Of particular importance to me is that it will have the best scanner, which may even allow flights from here to move directly to the United States, something that has historically been the most difficult eligibility criteria in terms of aviation,” he says.
Project
Contracta Construction UK Ltd is responsible for the construction of the Kumasi International Airport extension project, which is valued at €124.9 million.
Work on the current runway pavement will be extended from 1,981 meters to 2,320 meters, and the building of a new taxi link and apron, two new apron parking stands, and an aeronautical ground lighting system will be carried out as part of the overall project.
Other projects include the design and construction of a terminal with a capacity to accommodate 800,000 people per year, the construction of an 11MW substation, and the supply of new bulk utility services that are separate from the current utility services for the airport, among other things.
The construction of the air traffic control building and a fire station, as well as the enlargement of the existing runway surface, are all part of the project’s third phase, which is now underway.
SOURCES. TRAVELRNEWS.COM
