The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced that beginning in January 2026, flight ticket fees would be prohibited in all subregional airports.
Chris Appiah, ECOWAS’ director of transport and communications, talked to journalists on the margins of the ECOWAS council of ministers meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
Appiah stated that the action was part of a comprehensive regional program adopted by the ECOWAS body of heads of state and government in December 2024.
He stated that the decision intends to make air travel more inexpensive and increase subregional economic cooperation, noting that high airfares are mostly caused by government taxes and aviation levies.
The ECOWAS director said the decision followed nearly a decade of studies confirming that West Africa has the most expensive air transport services on the continent.
“If you buy a typical ticket in West Africa on any of the airlines, you realise that about 64 per cent, sometimes it will be 70 per cent, of the ticket price, is as a result of taxes and charges,” Appiah said
“From 1st January 2026, the Heads of State have agreed that all Member States should remove taxes on air transport.
“These taxes are against the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s guidelines and suppress demand rather than support growth.”
He said the new policy is critical to ECOWAS’ integration goal, which is based on connectivity and the free movement of people, products, and services.
Appiah stated that the group promotes regional cohesion, which he believes thrives on connection.
He stated that transit was one of the primary means of linking member nations.
“What these taxes do is suppress demand, and air transport is not growing to support tourism, health, education and other sectors,” he said.
“If you want to buy goods from Lagos to Dakar, for instance, a trader will not pay less than $3,000 in tickets, and a lot of that is taxes.
“We are working with the airlines themselves to make sure that when the taxes and charges are removed, they will also in turn reduce their tickets, so that the citizens of West Africa can travel freely.”
Appiah observed that other African sub-regions do better in air travel because they charge less, revealing that prices in the region can be up to 67% more than in other parts of the continent.
This, according to the ECOWAS director, is why airlines like Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airlines, and Royal Air Maroc are doing so well “while our region suffers.”
He stated that the group is also collaborating with member states, parliaments, and aviation stakeholders to guarantee successful implementation by January 2026.
