Startup to Africa World Airlines on 21 September 2012 AWA was born as the brainchild of noted Ghanaian
investment banker and
traditional leader Togbe Afede XIV. The airline received its Air Carrier License from
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority on 4 March 2011. After securing funding and partnership for the project, the initial management team led by
CEO Zhang Jiuhua and
COO Sean Mendis proceeded with the technical certification of the airline. AWA took delivery of its first
Embraer 145 aircraft in August 2012, immediately followed by a second aircraft in September 2012. and Mendis was replaced as COO by Apiigy Afenu. Services to its fourth domestic destination of
Takoradi commenced in May 2015. Plans for expansion of regional routes were temporarily put on hold due to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, but the airline nonetheless recorded its first annual profits in 2014. and focussed on training Ghanaian staff in technical roles such as
pilots and
engineers to reduce dependence on
expatriates. In May 2015, AWA successfully completed its first
IOSA audit, making it only the second airline in Ghana to achieve this international safety standard. In October 2015, Samuel Thompson took over from Apiigy Afenu as COO.
Expansion on 14 February 2020 AWA began the next phase of its expansion in December 2016, with the delivery of its fourth Embraer 145 aircraft. In 2017, John Xiaoyi Quan, former Managing Director of
Air Guilin in China, took over as CEO. Two additional aircraft were also delivered in 2017 taking the fleet up to six. New services to
Abuja and
Monrovia were launched. AWA became a full member of IATA in 2017, following the completion of its second IOSA audit. The airline is the only IATA member airline in Ghana. In 2018, Sean Mendis returned as COO after 6 years away.
Wa in 2019, and
Abidjan in 2020. Michael Cheng Luo also returned as CEO in 2019 and the airline took delivery of its seventh and eight aircraft in 2018 and 2019 respectively. The airline was the largest international carrier operating to Nigeria by 2019 with 200 monthly frequencies to both
Lagos and
Abuja. AWA consolidated its position as the premier airline in Anglophone West Africa with its dominance of the Nigerian regional travel market, and its numerous partnerships with international airlines.
COVID-19 pandemic AWA temporarily suspended passenger operations on 30 March 2020 due to the spread of
COVID-19 in Ghana. Domestic passenger operations resumed on 1 May 2020 under enhanced sanitary protocols, including disinfection of the aircraft after each flight. The airline continued to operate humanitarian flights to repatriate Ghanaians stranded abroad during the period of closed borders, and began a phased resumption of international flights from September 2020. Domestic traffic had recovered to 2019 levels by the end of 2020. AWA received the second highest score among all
African airlines for their COVID-19 safety protocols as assessed by independent watchdog Safe Travel Barometer. In 2021, AWA once again booked over 600,000 passengers, thus almost matching the record traffic levels seen in 2019. The airline saw significant staff turnover and changes during the period immediately following the pandemic, with both COO Mendis and CEO Luo exiting the company for the second time at the expiry of their contracts in 2020 and 2022 respectively, and Yingli Zhou taking over as the new Chief Executive. Zhou cited a need to refocus operations away from lower yielding international routes as one of his priorities. In 2023,
Adedayo Olawuyi resigned as Head of Commercial to join
Uganda Airlines and in 2024, Zhou was replaced by Luolin Cui as
CEO{{cite web| url=https://airspace-africa.com/2023/04/03/uganda-airlines-appoints-adedayo-olawuyi-as-new-chief-commercial-officer/| title=Uganda Airlines appoints Adedayo Olawuyi as new Chief Commercial Officer ==Fleet==