Kotoka International Airport is the biggest and only international in Ghana and is located in Accra. It is operated by the Ghana Airport Company Limited and has a record of serving a record 3 million passengers in 2019.
Terminals and Services
The Airport has two operational terminals currently which serve different purposes depending on the passenger’s flight schedule. Terminal two is used for only domestic travel while Terminal three serves regional, international and long-haul operators. However, Terminal one presently has been refurbished to be used for Private Jets and a VVIP lounge. Meanwhile, Terminal three has the capacity for some of the largest aircraft such as the Airbus A380.
Furthermore, the Kotoka International Airport is served by numerous cargo airlines on a regularly scheduled basis, in addition to ad-hoc cargo flights. In 2016, Air Ghana opened the Ghana Airport Cargo Center, a 10,000 sq.m dedicated cargo warehouse facility supplemented by 9,000 sq.m of office space, in partnership with Ghana Airports Company Limited and Swissport.
Covid-19 Protocols & Guidelines
1. Pre-Arrival Processes – Travellers intending to enter Ghana
a. All international passengers including those from the ECOWAS region, intending to fly to Ghana, will be required to be fully vaccinated.
b. Fill the Ghana Health Declaration form here: https://www.ghs-hdf.org/
2. Arriving Passengers – Travellers Entering Ghana
Ghanaians and Foreign Residents
a. 18 years and above arriving in Ghana will be required to provide evidence of full vaccination for a COVID-19 vaccine at the point of embarkation and upon arrival at Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
b. Fully vaccinated will be exempted from pre-departure COVID-19 PCR testing from point of embarkation.
c. Fully vaccinated will be exempted from COVID-19 testing upon arrival at the KIA.
d. Partially vaccinated or unvaccinated will be required to present a NEGATIVE 48hrs PCR test result to the airline before embarkation and upon arrival.
e. Partially vaccinated or unvaccinated will undergo COVID-19 testing at the KIA upon arrival.
f. Partially vaccinated or unvaccinated will be undergo COVID-19 vaccination at KIA upon arrival.
3. Non-Ghanaians:
a. At the point of embarkation must provide evidence of full vaccination status to the Airline prior to embarkation. (Airlines that board non-Ghanaians without evidence of full vaccination will be considered to have violated the COVID-19 guidelines for Ghana and shall be fined $3,500.00)
b. Travelling to Kotoka International Airport with fake or forged vaccination certificates shall be quarantined and returned to the point of embarkation at their own cost.
All Arriving passengers will undergo temperature screening, Yellow Fever Card verification and COVID-19 vaccination certificate verification as required
4. Transit Passengers
a. Passengers transiting and transferring through KIA will be required to be fully vaccinated and in addition adhere to COVID-19 testing requirements at the destination countries.
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5. Exemptions
a. Children under 18 years will not be tested at the Airport upon arrival
b. Children between 10-17 years who are unvaccinated are to submit a 48 Hour negative PCR test prior to embarkation to Ghana
c. Children under 10 years are exempted from pre-departure COVID-19 PCR testing and COVID-19 testing at the Airport upon arrival
d. Airline crew are exempted from the pre-departure and arrival COVID-19 testing and should follow the Airline policy for testing.
e. Passengers who arrive under emergency circumstances such as diverted flights will not be required to undergo testing if they do not leave the airport or remain in isolation in their hotel.
6. Travelling with Pets
a. Travelling with pets into Ghana is allowed in line with guidelines of the Veterinary Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food & Agriculture.
7. Departure Process- Passengers exiting Ghana
a. Passengers departing Accra will required to adhere to COVID-19 testing requirements for the destination countries.
b. Departing passengers will undergo temperature screening at the entrance of Terminal 3 departures
8. Wearing of Nose Mask
a. Wearing of nose mask is mandatory in all Airport Terminals and ancillary buildings
9. Vaccination
Definition of Fully Vaccinated – A person is said to be fully vaccinated when he/she has taken the full dose of vaccines approved and registered by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana.
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LIST OF COVID-19 VACCINES APPROVED FOR TRAVELLERS INTO GHANA https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/
SN
NAME OF VACCINE
MANUFACTURER
COVID-19 VACCINES GRANTED EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION (EUA) BY THE GHANA FOOD AND DRUGS AUTHORITY (FDA)
1
Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac)
Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia
2
CovishieldTM (Oxford/AstraZeneca formulation)
Serum Institute of India (SIIPL) India
3
COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen (Ad26.COV2. S)
Janssen Pharmaceutica NV
Einsteinweg 101, 2333 CB Leiden,
The Netherlands
4
Pfizer – BioNTech’s Comirnaty (BNT162B2)
BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH
Kupferbergterrasse 17-19, 55116 Mainz
Germany
Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV
Rijksweg 12, 2870 Puurs,
Belgium
5
Moderna’s Spikevax (mRNA 1273)
Rovi Pharma Industrial Services, S.A
San Sebastian de los Reyes Paseo de Europa, 50 28703.
Madrid, Spain
6
Vaxzevira (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) (AZD1222)
AstraZeneca AB (Sweden)
SK Bioscience Co Limited (Republic of Korea)
OTHERS GRANTED EMERGENCY USE LISTING (EUL) BY WHO
7
COVAXIN
Bharat Biotech, India
8
BBIBP-CorV (Vero Cells)
Sinopharm, (Beijing) China
9
CoronaVac
Sinovac, China.
10
COVOVAX™
COVID-19 vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 rS Protein Nanoparticle [Recombinant])
Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd
11
NUVAXOVID™
COVID-19 vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 rS [Recombinant, adjuvanted])
Novavax CZ a.s.
N/B: The first dose of Johnson and Johnson and 2nd dose of all other approved vaccines should be at least 14 days prior to embarkation to be qualified as fully vaccinated.
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10. Traveller Role – Uploading the vaccination card onto the PanaBIOS trusted travel platform
a. Create an account on the AU-endorsed site: https://trustedtravel.panabios.org or on the UNDP-endorsed Global Haven site: www.globalhaven.org
b. Click on the “Trusted Vaccines” tab.
c. Choose user type to create vaccination booklet (self or dependent if uploading for someone).
d. Indicate the country of vaccination.
e. Choose pathogen/disease (SARS-CoV-2).
f. Fill the vaccination campaign column (i.e., Type of vaccines and the number of shots).
g. Fill the vaccination record (i.e. Batch number, manufacturer, vaccination date and vaccination card number).
h. Upload the vaccination card.
i. The system will verify your vaccine records and issue you with a code and a pass.
j. Either the vaccine code or the pass is adequate for travel.
k. The vaccine code or the pass will be verified and validated by Port Health before departure and upon arrival into Ghana.
l. The vaccine code or the pass will be pre-validated by the airline before check-in at departure.
m. If unvaccinated, take a PCR test within 48 hours of your embarkation to Ghana and validate the test result at https://trustedtravel.panabios.org or www.globalhaven.org
11. Airline Role
a. Airline pre-embarkation staff must confirm that passengers have BOTH a Vaccine Code from PanaBIOS and a Vaccine Card before check-in.
b. Airline operators should inspect, and ensure that every passenger shows proof of a pre-validated vaccination certificate (QR Code) from the PanaBios platform before they are allowed to board the flight.
c. Sanctions will be applied by Port Health to airlines who do not comply to the guidelines and protocols.
12. Port Health Role
a. Port Health will validate the vaccination certificate both physically and using the PanaBIOS platform of travelers embarking and disembarking at the airport, seaport, and ground crossing.
b. Port Health will provide technical assistance, supervise, and monitor the airlines to enhance effective implementation.
c. Port Health will apply sanctions to airlines who do not comply to the guidelines:
d. Disembark travellers who did not upload their vaccination certificates
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e. Disembark Non-Ghanaian(s) who are not fully vaccinated per the guidelines
f. Travelers who are found to possess ‘fake’ or ‘vaccination certificate belonging to other persons’ will be handed over to the National Security.
Customer support: globalhaven@panabios.org. Additional information on how to comply with these directives are available at: www.panabios.org/advisories/Ghana
Additional information and guides can be accessed on the Ghana Health Service and Africa CDC website (www.africacdc.org/trusted-travel). Customer service and technical support can be reached via globalhaven@panabios.org
Board of Directors
A nine-member board has ace Ghanaian broadcaster, Mr Paul Adom-Otchere, the host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV as the Chairman with Madam Pamela Djamson -Tettey, Managing Director of GACL, Mr Teye Adirackor, Mr Kwabena Mantey Jectey Nyarko, Ms Philomena Sam, Mr Francis Kofi Nunoo and Group Captain Gervase Wienaa as members. The president of Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) and renowned football commentator, Kwabena Yeboah was later sworn in together with Kojo Edyir Danso bringing the total number of board members to nine (9) to serve the Ghana Airports Company Limited.
