Low patronage, few airports driving up domestic airfares – Isaac Adongo

Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Isaac Adongo, has stated that a better business case is needed to reduce Ghana’s high domestic airfares.

The legislator said domestic air travel remains expensive partly because of low patronage and the limited number of airports available to airlines.

He explained that airlines have to recover significant operational costs from a relatively small number of passengers, making it difficult for private operators to reduce fares without increasing passenger numbers and aircraft utilisation.

Speaking at the Ghana-Yorkshire Investment Summit, the lawmaker said a domestic airfare of about GH¢6,000 is unreasonably high but could be understood from the airlines’ business perspective.

“Airfares for some of the airlines is about GHS6000. That is unreasonably high. But from a business perspective, the airline goes to lease an aircraft. Sometimes the aircraft is leased together with the crew," he said.

He said aircraft leases are often paid for around the clock even though the aircraft may only be in operation for a fraction of that time.

According to him, increasing the number of routes and airports would allow airlines to keep their aircraft in the air for longer periods, helping them spread their operating costs across more passengers and journeys.

Adongo said government must therefore consider ways of expanding airport infrastructure and creating conditions that would increase domestic air travel.

“So how do we keep the airline, the aircraft in the air for at least six months, so that it can reduce the burden on the few who are flying? That is a business case," he stated.

He stressed that private airlines could not simply be expected to reduce fares when they are operating at a loss.