The East African Business Council (EABC), an apex body of the private sector associations, on Tuesday voiced its concern about skyrocketing air transport costs in the East African Community (EAC) region.
The business body called for a thorough review of aviation taxes, levies and charges so as to make them affordable to air transport users.
The EABC said in a statement issued at its headquarters in Tanzania’s northern city of Arusha that it will commission experts to work on the issue.
High air transport cost in the EAC is blamed for frustrating aviation-dependent sectors such as tourism and export of fresh produce. The air transport market in the EAC was also still under what is described as “tight regulation and control” of the governments, said the statement.
This is believed to have denied fair competition among the operators within the bloc, now with seven member states of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, said the statement. Enditem
