Dawit Lemma, MD and Founder of Krimson Aviation, continues his series of articles on business aviation in Africa.   The Fluidity of Fees

Business aviation continues to evolve in Africa, yet as a vast continent with multiple nations, economies, cultures and politics, processes and aviation regulations vary dramatically from country to country.

Consequently so do fees. Securing accurate costs and understanding how fees are structured comes with its own set of challenges and uncertainties. This naturally affects planning associated with the costs of flying into, out of, or in the air space above each country.

The dynamic nature of the African aviation landscape means operational costs change on a daily basis. In addition to regional, continental, and global economics, numerous other factors cause fees to fluctuate. A figure provided by a supplier or service provider one day can change unexpectedly the next. Inclement weather, sudden airspace restrictions and altered infrastructure can lead to modified flight plans resulting in dramatic budgetary changes. Ground costs associated with permits and licenses, FBO charges and handling requests, take-off and landing fees, and ground personnel charges, are often fluid. Even airport operating hours - think night-time, weekend, and public holidays - can add premium amounts to an invoice

Disbursement fees vary widely, and operators can be exposed to double disbursement fees as two parties providing a single service, may both add a disbursement fee. We’ve seen situations where a ground handling agent will charge 10% disbursement for settling airport and catering fees on their account, and then the international trip planner also charges a 5% disbursement for the entire invoice.

Africa also has some less familiar items appearing on invoices. The “lighting fee” is generated when an aircraft lands one hour before sunset or one hour after sunrise and the airport has to turn on landing, runway, and taxiway lights. Catering can also be hard to come by for business aviation, even if it’s available for commercial carriers. This can lead to an unexpected treasure hunt for alternative catering services which may well result in extraordinary catering costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has added an unexpected layer to the fee conundrum. With the reduction in air traffic over Africa permit application fees at many airports have increased to offset the decreased revenues. Where you may not have paid for permits before, you may now be expected to.

What’s more, payment methods across Africa vary widely. While some suppliers will accept credit card or bank transfers others prefer advanced deposits. We recommend keeping cash on hand as payment via credit card is not always a possibility, and banking transfers rarely happen immediately. This could result in aircraft being grounded while payment is approved. In some countries the government controls the banking process and at times this means transactions move at a snail’s pace.

So how can operators find efficiencies and ensure financial clarity? Needless to say it is essential to do your research before each flight to understand the costs involved. With such fluidity, requesting pricing for any services in writing and then interrogating that quote is a valuable exercise. Confirm whether a quote includes administration costs as well as all applicable taxes. These will often appear in the “remarks” section and sometimes are not included at all.

Finding a local, professional expert and building relationships with key players in business aviation operations help tremendously when navigating the industry. Working with a representative familiar with local processes will help establish what fees to expect, as well as which vendor or suppliers are most reliable, and in it for the long term. If you fly to a particular country regularly we also recommend getting to know the local CAA. Keeping current with CAA fees will certainly smooth future flights.

To be clear, the changing fees are not related to suppliers looking to take advantage of customers, but rather, are a result of the volatile realities and challenges present across Africa. Equally, not all examples are true of all airports, or nations, and are included to highlight the need to expect the unexpected. The one constant that operators need to be aware of is the potential for inconsistency of fees. It is critical to understand the variable nature of operating into Africa, but planning and local insight will go a long way in streamlining operations.

Only by gaining a better understanding of the nature of the diverse fees, structures and payment options, and then planning for them, will a substantial amount of financial uncertainty and personal stress be alleviated.

Dawit Lemma, MD and Founder of Krimson Aviation

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 1st October 2020 | Issue #575

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