Competition economist says Ghana's domestic airfares need study, not a presumption of price-gouging

Pinned summary · as of 16:27

Public anger over the price of flying between Ghanaian cities has drawn a response from Appiah Kusi Adomako, who practises law and works as a competition economist. He argues that the frustration deserves investigation, but that it does not by itself show airlines are exploiting passengers, and he sets out a fare comparison and several policy proposals.

What we know

• Mr Adomako, who heads the West Africa Regional Centre of CUTS International, said expensive domestic tickets reflect both how the aviation industry is structured and the general cost of doing business in Ghana, a mix he calls the "Ghanaian pricing culture".
• He recalled that a Fly540 round trip from Accra to Kumasi cost him roughly US$36 in November 2012, and said the market went from four airlines in 2013 to one in 2017, with prices climbing over that period, before Passion Airlines arrived in 2018.
• Two carriers, Africa World Airlines and PassionAir, now run most scheduled domestic services in the country.
• Mr Adomako described his fare check as a snapshot rather than a controlled study. On 6 September 2026 he searched return fares for travel between 28 September and 5 October 2026, drawing on airline websites for Ghanaian routes, Expedia for some African and Indian routes and Google Flights for European ones.
• In his survey, five Ghanaian routes averaged US$313.06 for the lowest return fare and US$450.48 for the highest. Twelve routes in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and India averaged US$181.50 and US$227.00, and 16 European domestic routes averaged US$191.25 at the low end and US$448.31 at the high end.
• By his reading, Ghana's average lowest fare sits about 72 percent above the average for the non-European comparators, and its average highest fare is close to double theirs. The 16 European routes had a lowest average about 39 percent under Ghana's.
• He argued that proving excessive pricing would need company-level figures such as seat occupancy, yields, how aircraft are used, lease, fuel and maintenance bills, none of it public, and that two carriers do not prove collusion or abuse even though thin competition weakens the incentive to discount.
• Mr Adomako pointed to high fixed costs, limited scale and currency exposure: airlines earn mostly in cedis but pay for leases, engines, spare parts and insurance in foreign currency.
• Aviation regulator figures show 903,227 domestic passenger movements during 2025; roughly 54 percent involved Kumasi, 24 percent Tamale and 15 percent Takoradi.
• An Airport Infrastructure Development Charge introduced on 1 April 2026 puts GH₵100 on every single domestic leg, so GH₵200 on a round trip. Mr Adomako also said AWA adds a fuel surcharge of GH₵440 on a return trip and Passion Airlines GH₵150.
• He recommended that the Ministry of Transport, the civil aviation regulator and the airports company study how domestic airlines' costs compare in lower-fare countries, and urged the government to consider removing or cutting the GH₵100 charge and to draw in new low-cost carriers. He also wants the aviation authority to keep watching the market for fair competition.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Mr Adomako's fare comparison is his own snapshot and has not been verified independently. He said it does not show that every foreign flight costs less: Ghana looks dearest at the bottom of the fare range, while the top of the range was close to the European average.
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  The Onua Online account adds an illustration from Mr Adomako, not confirmed elsewhere, in which a GH₵40,000 flight on a 50-seat aircraft costs GH₵889 per passenger with 45 on board and GH₵1,333 with 30, before any profit.
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  The Custodian alone reported his remarks blaming the Russia-Ukraine and Middle East conflicts for a steep rise in fuel prices, and citing IATA data showing high unit costs for African airlines.

Why it matters for Ghana

Domestic flights are a real option for travellers between Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi, so ticket prices touch families, traders and business travellers. Mr Adomako's point that a fixed GH₵100 charge each way weighs more on a short trip explains why the cheapest fares are hard to lower. Any decision on the charge, on new carriers or on a cost study would show up in what passengers pay at the ticket counter.