BY BUSINESS REPORTER
AFRICA has been asked to review the "complex" structure of its taxes and fees imposed by service providers to enable airlines in the continent exploit the existing growth potential.
It is believed that the duties in Africa are relatively higher in comparison to other regions and particularly when seen in light of the level of infrastructure and services available.
For instance, it is estimated that it costs 18.5 US cents per Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) to travel in Africa as compared to 15.5 US cents in Asia, 12.3 cents in Europe and 11.0 cents in North America.
RPK is a measure of passenger’s sales volume, which can be obtained by multiplying the number of revenue passengers carried on a flight by the distance traveled by each passenger.
Industry leaders who concluded their 43rd Annual General Assembly and conference in Southern Morocco last week heard that the "excessive" charges imposed on the airlines operating in the continent and their passengers, with experts saying this has impeded airlines from realising their full potential.
The Airlines Association (Afraa), Secretary General of African Elijah Chingosho noted that cost of travel from Africa is still very high compared to other regions of the world.
He said high intra-Africa and intercontinental airfares are mainly attributed to high airport taxes and fees coupled with high fuel, insurance, aircraft financing and leasing charges experienced in the region.
"This is stifling development of air transport and compounding the many difficulties that African airlines have to surmount to be competitive and profitable," he said.
He said that the impact of high charges should be examined in light of Africa’s huge potential for growth of air transport, which by all indications is becoming one of the fastest growing regions in terms of air traffic.
No comments:
Post a Comment