The Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) has announced the suspension of discussions concerning a charge of $20 on all round-trip airline tickets for travellers using the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

According to the Company, although further meetings had been scheduled regarding the matter, they will no longer proceed with consultations on the $20 charges.

This comes after GACL, in a letter signed by its Managing Director, Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, on March 11, 2024, stated that travellers using the KIA would be required to pay a fee of $20 to help cover the cost of baggage belt repairs and other maintenance work at the airport starting May 1, 2024.

The management of GACL also announced to the Chairperson of the Airport Operators Committee of the Kotoka International Airport that the new fee would be implemented for travellers departing from the airport, stating that the fee would apply to all round-trip tickets.

Read also: Travelers using KIA to pay extra $20 on round-trip tickets from May 1

In addition to the $20 round-trip airline ticket fee, the GACL also specified that $10 of the fee would be charged for each leg of the trip.

However, the company has since come under intense public backlash for imposing the charges without parliamentary approval.

Already, the legislative body has summoned the Minister for Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, to provide urgent answers to Members of Parliament (MP) over the alleged new charge by the GACL as maintenance fees.

Read also: Transport Minister summoned over planned extra $20 charge for travellers at KIA

Speaking on the floor of Parliament, the MP for Tamale South constituency and former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, described the charge as illegal since Parliament had not approved it.

"What authority does the Ghana Airport Company have to impose fees, and are these charges consistent with the Fees and Charges Act approved by the Parliament of Ghana? Mr Speaker, this will be a cost to Ghanaian travellers from abroad to Ghana.

"Mr Speaker, I think that the Minister for Transport will have to be hauled by you to this House to explain the authority of the Ghana Airports Company and to explain to Ghanaians where he had the authority and mandate from,” he said.

But the MP for the Nhyiaeso Constituency, Dr Stephen Amoah, cautioned the Minority against politicising the move.

“But other than that, I support that if indeed the airport authority is doing that, it is not in line with our laws and we need to ask the Minister to come and answer.

“But in doing so, let us eschew all forms of political interest as definitional elements that will draw unnecessary complaints and debates that will not be very functional to what we want to do,” he said.

First Deputy Speaker Andrew Amoako Asiamah, who presided over the House, ruled that the Transport Minister should appear before MPs to answer questions on the development on March 19.