The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has officially ended its Fixed Base Operation (FBO) arrangement with McDan Aviation Handling Services Limited, citing ongoing failures to honour financial commitments tied to its operations at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
In a statement released on March 12, the airport operator said the commercial licence, which allowed McDan Aviation to deliver FBO services in specified sections of Terminal 1, was first signed in August 2022. Under its terms, McDan Aviation was expected to pay regular licence fees, rent and royalties to GACL for the use of the facility.
GACL noted, however, that the company “began defaulting on its financial obligations shortly after the agreement took effect” and that repeated efforts to settle the arrears were unsuccessful. Following partial payments of older debts, the firm allegedly accrued fresh unpaid liabilities, prompting the airport authority to first restrict access to its operations and then ultimately withdraw the licence.
As part of the termination process, GACL said it served a 90‑day notice to McDan Aviation requesting full settlement of outstanding sums, but said the deadline passed without resolution. The authority subsequently secured and locked the Terminal 1 FBO premises in February and instructed the company to remove its equipment and belongings.
GACL emphasised that any future payments would be treated strictly as partial settlement of debts and would not reinstate the agreement, adding that the decision is final and there is no legal basis for renewed engagement over the FBO arrangement.
The airport operator also warned other partners to meet their contractual obligations or face the full debt‑recovery processes spelled out in their agreements.
The wider McDan Group is reportedly also involved in a separate dispute with GACL over a 16‑acre parcel of land at the airport where commercial properties have been developed, with authorities alleging millions in unpaid dues.
McDan Aviation has since publicly contested the termination, accusing GACL of breaching the contract and, according to some reports, of ignoring court procedures in the lead‑up to enforcement actions.