From Thursday, January 1, the twelve countries members of the community Economic situation of West African states (ECOWAS) must abolish several taxes specific to the aviation sector and reduce 25% some royalties.

The abolition of air transport taxes is part of in order to reduce the cost of air transport in order to promote tourism and trade in the subregion - and that raises questions on its potential environmental consequences. For Didier Br é chemier, sp serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bookman Old Style">é question specialist a é African lines, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bookman Old Style"> “remove taxes necessarily have a beneficial effect”, even if this reduction is not immediately reflected in ticket prices.

As a reminder, this major tax reform was officially validated at the end of 2024.

In 2025, West Africa was thus among the the most expensive regions in the world for aviation, with higher costs of 85% for regional flights and 82% for international connections, according to the institution. As a result, the subregion only concentrates 11% of African air traffic, while the whole continent does not represent itself only about 2.8% of the world market.

Officially, these taxes were introduced in the aim to improve airport infrastructure.