Ghana's returning president, John Dramani Mahama, has announced his government intends to resume efforts to establish a national airline in partnership with "competent" partners.

Delivering his first State of the Nation address since his reelection in December, he said: "We will reopen a transparent expression of interest to invite competent, established partners to work with us to establish a national airline. We believe that an efficient national carrier can help reduce fares on routes where external carriers are currently enjoying a monopoly."

Mahama, who is serving his second term as president (after the first term from 2012 to 2017), noted that "the last attempt by the previous administration to re-establish a national airline [has] failed".

This represents formal confirmation of the failure of GhanaAirlines (Accra), the new national carrier, that was to be operated by Ghana's privately owned Ashanti Airlines. In May 2024, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) confirmed to ch-aviation that Ashanti Airlines' certification was suspended because the company did not submit sufficient information.

Ashanti Airlines was punted as a public-private partnership involving Ghanaian entrepreneurs Ernest Ofori Sarpong and Osei Kwame Despite of Despite Group. Initial reports suggested the strategic partners held a 49% share, local individuals/corporate institutions 41%, and the Ghanaian government 10%. There was also a UK-based backer, Zotus Group, co-founded by former England footballer Emile Heskey and entrepreneur and businessman Davison Simango.

Ashanti was initially expected to launch GhanaAirlines with up to five ATR72-600s.

Ghana's plans to re-establish a national carrier are part of its strategy to boost connectivity, tourism, and trade. Ashanti Airlines won the bid for GhanaAirlines in 2022, beating competitors like Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir, and Ghana's JNH Group. In 2018 and 2020, Ghana had signed separate MoUs with both Ethiopian Airlines and EgyptAir in attempts to revive a national carrier, which never materialised.

Ghana has lacked a national carrier since Ghana International Airlines (Accra) collapsed in 2010, following the earlier demise of Ghana Airways (Accra) in 2004.