Kumasi International Airport (IATA: KMS, ICAO: DGSI) is a national airport in Ghana serving Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region. In 2022, the airport handled over 450,000 passengers making it the second busiest airport in Ghana after Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
Kumasi International Airport is located 6 kilometres (4 mi) from Kumasi. It was changed from a military base to an airport in 1999. The airport has undergone several renovation and expansion projects to help push its status as an international airport.
History
Approval to start an airport in Kumasi by the then British government was obtained in 1940, even though the land acquisition documentation was completed and paid for in 1947. Prior to that, in 1943, the Kumasi Airport had been completed and was in use. The airport was started as a military air force base for the British Royal Air Force during World War II.
There were extensive developments on the runway, navigational facilities as well as human resource in 1958 and 1959 by the Government of Ghana to ensure the enhancement of internal airline operations.
In the late 1970s, there was a major uplift through installations of runway and Taxiway lights and an extension of the main runway to the southern part of the Airport.
On 1 December 1993 a new Terminal building and the installation of a VOR/DME were commissioned by President Jerry John Rawlings. The airport was changed from a fully military base into a domestic airport in 1999.
In 2008, renovation works were done by Bans Consult limited at the airport including the rehabilitation of the arrival and departure halls, the control room, rescue and fire station and the construction of a VIP Lounge ahead of the African Cup of Nations 2008 (CAN 2008) which Ghana was hosting.
