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The Tamale Airport is to be upgraded to meet international standards as part of measures to boost air transport in the country. Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), said about $150 million would be needed to upgrade the Tamale Airport. In an interview in Accra after a day�s symposium to mark the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) 25th Anniversary celebration, she stated that the GACL does not have the financial strength currently to undertake the project but it is sourcing funds to make the Tamale Airport attractive to international flights. Currently, Ghana�s primary airport for international flights is the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra while other airports such as the Tamale, Kumasi and Takoradi are mainly used for domestic flights. Apart from military planes operated by the Ghana air forces, two civil airline operators, CityLink and Antrak are the key provides of domestic flights. The Managing Director of the GACL stated that the only runaway at the Tamale Airport would need to be extended, adding that the construction of the terminal and aircraft packing space would have to be undertaken. There would also be the need to provide taxi ways, aprons and a car park but Mrs. Owusu-Fianko explained that the project would be done in phases since the funds are not yet available. In anticipation of the influx of foreigners, the Tamale airport was given a facelift prior to the CAN 2008 but that did not meet international standards. She agreed that the Kotoka International Airport is congested and there was the need to acquire alternative airfields for the numerous international airline operators who are now thronging to Ghana. GACL was established in 2006 after the passage of Civil Aviation Act 678, 2004 to plan, develop, manage and ensure the maintenance of all civil airports and aerodromes in Ghana on sound business and commercial principles. However, the GACL has been facing challenges and Mrs. Owusu-Fianko suggested that the company can solve a greater part of the problem with its internally generated funds. Nonetheless, the company does not keep all its internally generated funds as government for instance takes 60 percent of the Airport Passenger Service Charges. Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey (Rtd), Director-General of GCAA, is of the view that airport facilities can be improved if government devotes a greater portion of the Airport passenger services charge to that cause. Nii Adumansa-Baddoo, Chief Executive of Nabs Aviation Business Consulting, predicted that global air traffic would continue to increase and Ghana would not be left out. He said in the last few decades, global air traffic has been growing steadily. In 2008, airports around the world handled 4.5 billion passengers and 77.9 million tons ofcargos as there were 66.9 million aircraft movements. Out of the number, the top 100 airports in the world handled about two-thirds of the passenger volume and more than 85 percent of the cargo tonnage worldwide last year. �Despite the current economic crisis, global passenger volumes are predicted to reach 11 billion by 2027. This represents an average rise of 4.2 per cent per year and is being mainly driven by an international traffic growth of 4.5 per cent per anum,� he said.