Hassan Tampuli criticises introduction of AIDC by government

The Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee, Hassan Tampuli, has condemned the introduction of the Airport Infrastructure Development Charge (AIDC), terming the initiative as insensitive to current global economic conditions.

His comments follows government efforts to fund airport infrastructure development, which has led to the rapid rising of domestic airfares following the enforcement of the new levy, which took effect on April 1, 2026.

Speaking on Citi Eyewitness on Wednesday, April 1, Tampuli said that the timing of the AIDC fails to reflect prevailing global market realities which is raising additional burden on travellers.

“Introducing this AIDC now smacks of a very insensitive government that is not reflective of what is happening on the global market,” he said.

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According to him, the Airport Passenger Service Charge (APSC), which has been part of airfare structures since it was last review in 2013, has been contributing to costs borne by travellers, noting that passengers are already paying existing fees embedded in ticket prices.

“This is a levy that is completely new. It hasn’t been in the line in the price build-up of air tickets previously. But don’t forget we already have the Airport Passenger Service Charge called APSC, which has always been in the price build-up,” he explained.

He also said that previous discussions around increasing the APSC from about GH₵5 to higher amounts were approached with caution due to concerns about affordability for the travelling public.

“For us, even increasing it to GH₵20 was a problem. We felt we needed to be sensitive to the Ghanaian travelling public. After several considerations, we agreed to about GH₵50, and even then, we were looking for the right time to implement it,” he noted.

He also mentioned that the new GH₵100 charge increases the financial burden on passengers when added to current fees, noting that even past attempts to review the APSC faced strong resistance.

SO/AE

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