Key players attribute high fares to multiple factors

Participants at the just-concluded National Aviation Conference organized by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) have lamented the high airfare costs attributed to multiple factors identified as the cost of goods sold, intermediary costs, government multiple taxes, regulatory charges, time of purchase (early-bird options), fuel costs, market forces of demand and supply, and costs related to original aircraft manufacturers.

Other factors also cited include: safety and security concerns, poor intra-African connectivity, market access limitations, and inadequate infrastructure as some of the challenges facing the industry.

Speaking on behalf of the domestic airlines, the Vice Chairman of the general body of the local carriers, Mr Allen Onyema who is also the Chairman of Air Peace airline declared: “Apart from the aeronautical charges and government taxes, airlines also pay additional charges and fees for ancillary airport facilities and services, ground handling services, oversight, and regulatory services by CAAs (civil aviation authorities).

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“Airlines are equally faced with high jet fuel costs; however, the charges and taxes levied by far have the highest impacts on the prices of tickets for air travel in Africa.”

Speakers at the conference while lamenting the high cost of aviation fuel in Africa, including in oil-producing countries than in Europe or the Middle East, bemoaned how Africa, despite being the region with the greatest aviation potential, continues to suffer punitive taxes, and high infrastructure just as fuel costs are hampering air transport’s benefits on the continent.

According to many key players at the event, the average fuel cost in the continent is 35 per cent higher than the rest of the world.