Effective today March 1, 2019, Airline companies using the Terminal Three facility at the Kotoka International Airport will pay 5 dollars per hour for using the counters at the facility.
The new fee which is known as the Check-in Counter fee was disclosed in a letter which was sent by the Ghana Airport Company to the Airline companies.
The Check-in Counters are the counters used by the airlines to verify passengers passports, tickets and luggage.
The new fee means an airline company that uses three counters for three hours a day will now pay at least 9000 dollars every month — a cost that will definitely be passed on to passengers.
Citi Business News has also learnt that the Ghana Airport Company has served a letter to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a notice to the international community.
Airline companies in the country have been complaining about what they say is a high cost of operation in the country, citing among other charges an additional hourly charge of 120 dollars for using the aerobridges and high rent of office space at the airport.
Although the Check-in Counter fee is a standard fee paid by airlines in other jurisdictions, some airline companies in the country believe the $5 is too much and want it slashed by 50%.
“Usually the airport has consultations with the airlines on fees that are introduced. We have received a notification as such. Counter fees in principle is a practice that applies in most of our airports even around our West Africa region. But it is being introduced now at Terminal 3 which comes as an additional cost to the airlines which is why we want to see if it can be reduced,” Country Manager for South African Airways, Gloria Wilkinson Mensah told Citi Business News in an exclusive interview.
She said the operators will meet in the coming days to discuss the matter and also schedule a meeting with management of the Ghana Airport Company for renegotiations.
Citi Business News has also gathered that the new fee will be high on the agenda at the upcoming IATA African quarterly meeting to be held in Ghana later this month.
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