El Salvador port authority recently announced the enforcement of a $1,000 fee for passengers holding passports from India or any of the 50-plus African countries. These funds are earmarked for the enhancement of the country’s primary international airport, San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez. The government, led by President Nayib Bukele, is committed to extensive modernisation and expansion projects at the airport, intending to offer superior services to all travellers utilizing the terminal, according to the Salvadoran authorities.
The El Salvador International Airport functions as a crucial hub for a leading regional airline, providing direct connections to more than 30 destinations across 14 different countries. The port authority highlighted a noticeable surge in passenger traffic entering, exiting, and transferring through the airport in recent years, prompting the introduction of the Airport Improvement Fee.
While not explicitly stated by Salvadoran authorities, the fee appears to specifically target the increasing number of African and Indian travellers using the airport for connecting flights, particularly those with layovers in Managua, Nicaragua, en route to the United States.
According to the new regulations, airlines are required to provide daily passenger lists, including names, nationalities, arriving and departing flights, for individuals from the specified nationalities to the billing, collection, and payments section of AIES-SORG. Travellers from the listed countries are expected to pay $1,130 (inclusive of a 13 percent VAT) per person before boarding. This fee became effective on October 23, 2023.
‘There has been an increase in the number of passengers entering, leaving and connecting at the airport, compared to previous years. Therefore, we inform you about the application of the Airport Improvement Fee of the El Salvador International Airport, San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez, for passengers in transit,’ the port authority said in a statement.
The Billing, Collection, and Payments Division of AIES-SOARG will generate weekly fiscal documents based on the information furnished by the airlines, summarising the fee payments made by the designated passengers.
By introducing this fee, El Salvador aims to gather resources to improve its main international airport and further establish itself as a key transit point for global travel.
