GACL wants GH¢5 service charge for domestic flights increased

The traveling public should be prepared to pay more for domestic air travel in the future, if proposals by the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) for a review of the current GH¢5 per passenger Airport Passenger Service Charge (APSC) on all domestic flights is accepted by Parliament.

The GACL, a state-owned limited liability company responsible for managing all civilian state-funded airports in the country, is seeking an upward adjustment of the APSC, to enable them to maintain new airports constructed in various parts of the country. Their proposal is expected to be submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport when Parliament resumes.

This has become imperative because the APSC generated from mainly international travels via Terminal 3 of the Kotoka International Airport is tied to a US$250million loan secured from a consortium of banks led by Ecobank Capital by the GACL on the back of its balance sheet for the construction of the Terminal.

“Now, revenue from APSC for Accra is also a subject of a loan facility, so payment more or less goes to amortise those loans. We need excess funds to be able to maintain these facilities. So, we need a sustained revenue stream, even itemized in the budget that this is the purpose it is going to be used for,” Hassan Tampuli, Deputy Minister for Transport told the media during a visit to the Kumasi and Tamale airports

Mr. Tampuli, who was part of a delegation made up of members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport, and of Management of GACL, that inspected works on-going at the Kumasi and Tamale airports, added that: “For us at the Ministry of Transport, we are excited that leadership and members of the Committee appreciate the fact that the GH¢5 we have in the price buildup of domestic air travel is woefully inadequate and it needs to be reviewed.

“So they have asked that we come with a justification paper for us to be able to go through the numbers and see whether there is a justification for any increase and the amount.

We have not moved into these facilities [ Kumasi and Tamale terminal buildings] yet, in order not to get to a point where it will be difficult to maintain the facility, we need to be proactive and work on a steady revenue stream for GACL to be able to manage these facilities.”

The Chairman of Parliament’s Road and Transport Committee, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, has urged the Ministry of Transport and officials of GACL to submit the relevant documentation and proposals to his Committee for perusal.

“All international passengers are charged between US$100 and US$200 at Terminal 3, and that is the money they are using to support the domestic airports,” Mr. Osei Nyarko said.

The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Select Committee on Roads and Transport, Kwame Governs Agbodza, advised the GACL to be more innovative in raising funds to sustain the operations of domestic airports without recourse to the government.

On her part, the Managing Director of GACL, Madam Pamela Djamson-Tettey, said her outfit will work closely with the Transport Ministry to ensure that all the necessary documents for review are submitted to the Select Committee on Roads and Transport.