Have I been ripped off?

[clivewatson]

I just received an invoice from a company (who for the moment I shall not name) for a flight from Luxor to Zanzibar and back to Luxor.


Sudan Navigation Fees 1,500.00 Euros (can this possibly be correct?)
Ethiopia Navigation Fees 100.00 Euros
Kenya Navigation Fees 100.00 Euros
Administration Fee 10%
Tanzania Landing Permit HTZA 100.00 Euros
Sudan Overflight Permit 100.00 Euros
Ethiopia Overflight Permit 100.00 Euros
Kenya Overflight Permit 100.00 Euros
Tanzania Coordination Fees 250.00 Euros
All Countries Communication 100.00 Euros

This same invoice includes 1,273 Euros for Basic handling at Zanzibar, but I since discovered that the handler only charges US$ 250.

They also flight planned us to arrive when the airport was NOTAMED (since 2009) as being closed every night for r/way repairs. Luckily we discovered this ourselves two days before departure.

My main question for now is shall I pay the Sudan Nav Fees for 1,500 Euro, or tell them to take a long walk along a short pier?

Also, maybe some of you guys offer a menu pricing for overflights, especially Russia? If so, pls feel free to PM me.

Thanks.

[Opsbeatch]

One word....YES!

You have a PM :ok:

OB.

[merlinxx]

Damn right.. PM sent

[hawker750]

Rip Off??
Yes and No

The Sudanese Nav fees are correct, they are a fixed fee for all flights up to a certain weight. It is dangerous not to pay, you could be banned from overflying

The Handling fees in Zanzibar are standard rip off for using use a "Supervisory" agent.
In Africa (except in a few places) why use a handler? Somebody always comes out to give a hand for a few $. If you really feel uncomfortable about that pick up your
AC-U-KWIK and book your own handler and save a $1,000.

The rest of the fees are normal for obtaining overflight clearances. Again you can always do them yourself if you want to save the money,