Airlines face a complex structure of operational costs and charges imposed by various airport and government authorities. Charges imposed by airport and government authorities include, charges for air navigation services, airport charges and government taxes. Collectively, these charges constitute a substantial amount of the cost of the air travel which the airlines’ customers directly pay or the carriers pass over to them.

In Africa it is believed that charges and taxes are even significantly higher in comparison to most other regions. The impact of high taxes and charges coupled with deficient facilities and infrastructure in the region will be significant, as Africa becomes one of the fastest growing traffic in the world.

The lack of credible and sufficient data, the absence of proper regulatory oversight of the monopoly service providers in many countries and the lack of transparency and consultation in the setting up of these taxes and charges have left airlines with very little opportunity to influence the decisions.

In view of the above and in line with AFRAA’s new business plan, taxes and charges will be one of AFRAAs focus area. The main objective in this regard will be to reduce the cost to the member airlines and their customers arising from existing and future excessively high taxes and charges.

Towards this end, AFRAA is establishing a Taxes and Charges Task Force (‘TCTF”) which will study and analysis existing taxes and charges and identify airports where these charges are excessively high and propose effective ways and means of addressing them. The Task Force will also support the Secretariat’s initiatives to collect sufficient data to support the work of the Task Force.