More than half of Ghana's domestic air passengers travelled to or from Kumasi in 2025, highlighting the strength of the country's largest domestic aviation corridor even as passenger numbers reached a record high.
Kumasi handled 486,859 passengers, about 54 per cent of the 903,227 domestic passengers recorded nationwide, according to Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) data.
Tamale was a distant second with 217,899 passengers, or about 24 per cent, while Takoradi ranked third.
Flight activity shows a similar concentration. Kumasi accounted for 9,650 of the 20,208 domestic flights recorded in 2025, or 47.8 per cent, followed by Tamale with 5,384 flights, or 26.6 per cent, and Takoradi with 3,198, or 15.8 per cent.
Together, the three routes accounted for about 90 per cent of domestic flight activity.
The figures point to a market that has grown substantially in size but remains concentrated around a small number of economically important routes.
For airlines, that concentration provides a strong base of established demand. For policymakers, it highlights the difficulty of extending regular air services to smaller markets.
Record market, familiar pattern
Ghana's domestic aviation market has expanded sharply since 2010, but its basic structure has changed little.
In 2010, domestic airlines carried just 105,068 passengers, with only three routes — Kumasi, Tamale and Sunyani.
Passenger numbers climbed rapidly to 778,466 in 2013 before falling for several consecutive years to about 419,000-421,000 between 2016 and 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic delivered another major setback, with passenger numbers falling to 389,252 in 2020, the lowest level since 2011.
The recovery has since been sustained. Passenger traffic rose to 722,721 in 2021 and 852,101 in 2022, before falling to 775,662 in 2023. It then increased to 862,727 in 2024 and a record 903,227 in 2025.
The latest figure puts the market above its previous 2013 peak. But the recovery has not significantly changed where people fly.
Kumasi has been the largest domestic route in almost every year since 2011, with Tamale generally second and Takoradi third.
The industry's expansion has, therefore, been driven more by higher volumes on established routes than by the creation of a broadly distributed national network.
Kumasi's pull
The scale and consistency of Kumasi's traffic reflect its economic importance.
Founder and lead trainer at the International Data and Research Agency, Finex Skills Hub, Bernard Obeng Boateng, said Kumasi's position as a major commercial centre and gateway to a large economic area helped explain its dominance.
The Accra-Kumasi connection supports business travel, government activity, education, tourism and other intercity movement, he said.
The flight data suggests demand on the route is also relatively consistent. Kumasi's share of domestic flights remained mostly between 46 per cent and 50 per cent throughout 2025, without major seasonal swings.
Tamale's share edged higher towards the end of the year, reaching about 27 per cent-28 per cent between September and December, compared with roughly 24 per cent-26 per cent earlier in the year.
Takoradi remained relatively stable at around 15 per cent-16 per cent.
For airlines, routes with established and relatively predictable demand can support higher flight frequencies and better aircraft utilisation.
But the same concentration presents a challenge for efforts to broaden domestic connectivity.
Smaller markets struggle
The performance of smaller destinations shows the difficulty of sustaining routes outside the main corridors.
Sunyani, one of the original three domestic destinations, almost disappeared from the market for several years, with passenger numbers falling to single digits in some years, including 41 and zero.
The route subsequently recovered, with passenger numbers rising above 36,000 in 2024-2025.
Wa, which began appearing in the statistics in 2019, has remained a relatively small market, recording roughly 23,000-26,000 passengers a year.
Ho appeared in the passenger data between 2021 and 2023 but recorded fewer than 2,500 passengers before disappearing. No scheduled flights to Ho were recorded in 2025.
Charter operations have remained a small and irregular part of the market.
The pattern suggests that infrastructure alone does not guarantee sustainable air services. Routes also need sufficient and consistent passenger demand to support regular commercial operations.
Infrastructure faces a commercial test
The redevelopment of Prempeh I International Airport has given Kumasi additional capacity and a platform for expanding domestic and international connectivity.
But airport capacity is only one part of the equation.
Passengers need competitive fares, convenient schedules and reliable services, while airlines need sufficient demand to make routes commercially viable.
That is particularly important for smaller markets, where expanding connectivity may require demand to develop before airlines can justify maintaining frequent scheduled services.
The contrast between Kumasi and the smaller destinations, therefore, provides a broader lesson for Ghana's aviation sector: investment can create the capacity for connectivity, but sustained passenger demand ultimately determines where airlines can operate profitably.
Next phase
Ghana's domestic aviation market has demonstrated considerable resilience.
From just 105,068 passengers in 2010, it has grown to more than 900,000 annually, survived a prolonged downturn, recovered from the pandemic and surpassed its previous record.
Yet, the underlying route structure remains largely intact.
Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi continue to dominate both passenger and flight activity, while smaller destinations account for only a fraction of the market.
That leaves Ghana with a two-sided aviation challenge.
The harder one may be the next: turning a record-sized domestic aviation market into a more geographically diversified network.