Nigeria, eight others top African countries with high airport charges – Report

Nigeria and eight others have been ranked as African countries with high airport taxes, a new report has revealed.

Niger, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Bangui, Sierra Leone, Republic of Congo, and Nigeria topped the list of African countries with high airport taxes, the Airport Charges Report showed.

It indicated that airport taxes in the nine countries were as high as those in some European countries which had faced stiff resistance from the International Air Transport Association.

Niamey, Niger Republic which topped the list, charges passengers $162 on regional departure to African countries. This was followed by Monrovia, Liberia with $145; Guinea Bissau, $137; Dakar, Senegal $116; Douala, Cameroon $115; Bangui $111; Freetown, Sierra Leone $109; and Nigeria, $100.

International travelers at Bamako, Mali; Antananarivo, Madagascar; Cotonou, Benin Republic; Kinshasa, Zaire pay $99; $91, $88, $77 respectively.

In Accra, Ghana it costs $77; N’djamena $68; Djibouti $67; Cairo 67; Lome, Togo $62; and Entebbe, Uganda is $57. Charges by other African nations oscillate between $50 and $3.

Maseru, Lesotho had the lowest airport tax at $3, followed by Tripoli, Libya $4; Lubombo, Eswatini $7; Khartoum, Sudan $8; Gaborone, Botswana $11; and Tunis, Tunisia $11.

In Central and West Africa, 10 out of 23 airports (almost half) charge more than $100. As such, the two regions represented only 20 per cent of the global traffic into and out of Africa. Most of the northern African airports, which represent 35 per cent of the traffic, charge less than $50.

The Central and West African airports had the highest passenger taxes and fees, which varied from $164.9 in Niamey to $171 in Ilha Do Sal.

The five most expensive airports in West Africa charge over $100. Passengers in North African airports enjoy the lower amounts. Cairo charges $67 as passenger taxes and fees, while Khartoum charges only $8.2.

Credit: Punch