Ghana’s presidential jet has been out of service for months following the discovery of serious faults and corrosion during a routine inspection in France, raising fresh concerns over the state of the country’s ageing presidential fleet.
The Falcon 900EX EASy, registered 9G-EXE, was flown to Dassault Falcon Service (DFS) in Le Bourget, France, on March 11, 2025, for its scheduled 24-month inspection.
According to 3news.com, what was expected to be a standard check quickly escalated into a major overhaul when technicians discovered corrosion affecting both the left and right fuel feeder tanks, as well as the centre wing tanks, a defect that, if ignored, could lead to midair engine failure.
The report also revealed significant issues with Engine No. 2, including damage to its air intake plug and turbofan, both of which require full replacement. Additionally, the starter-generator was found to be failing intermittently.
These issues were compounded by a backlog of older maintenance problems that had accumulated over years of flying top government officials across the globe.
Originally, the aircraft was scheduled to return to Accra by March 26, 2025, but four months later, it remains grounded in France. A new tentative handover date has now been set for the end of July, if all goes according to plan.
In May 2025, Minister for Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, confirmed in Parliament that the extent of the faults had rendered the Falcon unfit for presidential use at this time.
The situation sparked renewed political debate when Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang had to charter a private jet from the UK to Ghana in May. Critics from the opposition questioned the cost, but Dr Boamah pushed back, blaming what he described as years of neglect under the Akufo-Addo administration for the current state of the aircraft.
He argued that the corrosion and backlog of deferred repairs were not recent developments, but rather the result of long-term maintenance lapses.
According to parliamentary records cited by 3news.com, delays in servicing the presidential jet have become increasingly routine in recent years. While there were no delays reported in 2020–2021, there was a two-and-a-half-month delay in 2022–2023, a two-month delay in 2024, and now, in 2025, the delay has already exceeded four months.
Ghana’s Falcon 900EX, delivered in the early 2010s, was originally intended to offer a modern and reliable alternative to older aircraft in the presidential fleet.
FKA/MA
