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The private jet terminal that Daniel McKorley built from scratch at Kotoka International Airport may not stay in his hands much longer.
Sources within government circles say there are active plans to reassign McDan Aviation's Fixed Base Operator facility at Terminal 1 to Ibrahim Mahama, the younger brother of President John Dramani Mahama and one of Ghana's most prominent industrialists. Neither McDan Aviation nor representatives of Ibrahim Mahama had responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
McKorley, the executive chairman of the McDan Group of Companies, secured a license in 2019 to operate Ghana's first purpose-built private jet terminal. The facility, housed at Terminal 1 of Kotoka International Airport and separate from the main public terminal, offers VIP lounges, crew facilities, a flight planning office, conference rooms, a hangar and in-flight catering. Passengers and crew can clear customs and immigration in the same building, a feature McKorley cited when he launched the terminal as proof that Ghana's aviation industry could compete at the highest level. "The goal behind this private jet lounge is to position the country's aviation industry amongst the best in the world," he said at the launch. "The lounge is not for McDan, rather it is for the business community and top-class executives."
The terminal has had its complications. In early 2022, the Ghana Airports Company Limited ordered McDan to suspend operations, citing breaches of the terms and conditions of its Terminal 1 agreement. McKorley complied and the matter was resolved, with McDan Aviation resuming operations and going on to win Aviation Company of the Year at the 2025 Ghana-West Africa Business Excellence Awards.
Now the terminal faces a different kind of challenge.
Ibrahim Mahama, 55, has been expanding his aviation footprint at pace. He ordered a Bombardier Global 6500 in 2024 and took delivery of the aircraft in early 2026. The jet, valued at approximately $70 million depending on the source, carries his signature "Dzata" branding in a custom grey and white livery. Dzata is the Ewe word for lion. The ultra-long-range aircraft can fly up to 6,600 nautical miles non-stop, runs on Rolls-Royce Pearl engines and has drawn both admiration and pointed criticism in Ghana given the country's ongoing economic pressures.
Mahama also announced this month that he was donating his previous aircraft, a Bombardier 604 that had been in his fleet for years and was at various times used by both President Mahama and the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to the state as an emergency air ambulance. "My old plane is now an air ambulance, an emergency air ambulance for every Ghanaian," he said.
Beyond aviation, Mahama is best known as the founder and chief executive of Engineers and Planners, a heavy equipment and construction company that has grown into one of West Africa's largest firms in its sector. He also runs Dzata Cement and holds interests across multiple industries.
The potential reassignment of the Terminal 1 FBO would raise serious questions about the security of private sector investments in state infrastructure and the treatment of operators who built facilities under government license. The terminal is currently the only FBO for private jet operations at Kotoka International Airport, meaning any private aircraft arriving in Ghana is required to use the facility.
