East Africa remains an expensive business area due to high cost of Air ticket fees charged with in the region a recent report indicated.
It is estimated that 43 percent of air ticket prices in the region comprise regulatory charges and taxes.
On the other hand, regulatory fees account for up to 24 percent. This was revealed in a recent sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), a body that legislates issues East africa.
Findings show that air transport in East Africa is generally expensive by international standards going by the current airfares and flight charges.
“The expensive rates on both passenger and cargo flights contribute to the high cost of doing business in the region,” said a report tabled before Eala sitting.
It followed a recent visit by the lawmakers to the headquarters of the Civil Aviation, Safety and Security Oversight Agency (Cassoa).
The Entebbe-based Cassoa is an institution of the East African Community (EAC) established to promote air safety and civil aviation development.
The legislators observed that the amount of taxes and fees paid by air travellers in East Africa surpassed those charged elsewhere in Africa and the world.
In Africa, the average taxes and fees paid is $64 while in Europe and the Middle East passengers are charged $30 and $29 respectively.
“That is in spite of the fact that air traffic is much more significant in these regions than Africa,” the legislators said.
In the EAC,air navigation charges are largely levied on air operators to cater for enroute, approach and in terminal area costs.
For instance, a passenger airline ticket between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi costs between $340 and $400 and $350 between Nairobi and Entebbe.
In many cases, the cost of air tickets within the region exceeded by far those from the region to Europe or the Middle East.
Burundi has the highest passenger fees ($60) followed by Uganda and Tanzania, which charge $57 and $54, respectively. Both Kenya and Rwanda impose $50 each.
Efforts to have the six partner states lower the air ticket costs and harmonise air travel policies have not been successful in recent trials.
Airport fees are charged for at least 18 services at the East African airports. They include landing, parking and passenger buses.
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