IATA Warns High Taxes and Fees Remain Major Drag on African Aviation
African airlines continue to face significant financial headwinds from excessive taxes, charges and operating costs, according to IATA's Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, Kamil Alawadhi, speaking at Aviation Africa in Kenya. Alawadhi warned that governments are increasingly treating aviation as a revenue source rather than an economic driver, with African unit costs running roughly double the global average, taxes and charges at least 15% above the global average, and fuel costs 17% higher than the global norm - accounting for 40% of operating costs on the continent compared to 25% globally. He singled out passenger levies tied to advanced passenger information systems as particularly damaging, citing Tanzania at $45 per sector, Gabon at $30 and Equatorial Guinea at $50, calling the fees unsustainable and urging compliance with ICAO standards.
Alawadhi acknowledged some progress since IATA launched its Focus Africa initiative in 2023, noting that 47 African carriers are now enrolled in the organisation's Operational Safety Audit programme and that blocked airline funds - money carriers cannot repatriate - have fallen from a peak of $1.5 billion in July 2023 to $624 million in July 2026. However, he stressed that foreign exchange access, market fragmentation and infrastructure investment remain persistent challenges. On the latter, he pointed to Ethiopia's new Bishoftu International Airport and Casablanca's Mohammed V expansion as examples where close airline consultation is essential to ensure spending is demand-driven and cost-efficient.
Source: Aviation Week