The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) said its primary focus is to create a sustainable, interconnected and affordable African air transport industry. The AFRAA Secretary-General, Abderahmane Berthé, highlighted the areas of action for the airline industry to address the high cost of operations that is impacting the performance of African airlines. He told New Telegraph that while Africa’s aviation industry continues to perform strongly, with increased passenger traffic and improved operational efficiency with key drivers including expanded routes, and rising domestic and international travel demand, one of the most fundamental factors determining an airline’s success or failure was the cost structure associated with its operations.
He stated that If the cost is too high, the profitability would be affected, making it more challenging to expand the network. Noting that taxes and fees generally represent over 40 per cent of airlines’ most affordable base fares and more than 20 per cent of ticket prices, Berthé remarked that, for a given average trip length, ticket fares were more expensive in Africa. “On average, they are twice or thrice as high as in Europe and Asia.
Consequently, air transport is not affordable for African citizens with the lowest GDP per capita,” he said. He further cited the disparities and non-harmonisation across the continent, with West and Central Africa being the worst affected. Since taxes and charges imposed on African aviation are .
