By Franklin Adole
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has accused some domestic airlines of manipulating ticket prices during the December 2025 festive season, a development it says worsened economic hardship for Nigerian travellers.
Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Mr. Tunji Bello, disclosed this in an interim report released on Thursday by the agency’s Department of Surveillance and Investigations. The report, signed by the Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Ondaje Ijagwu, detailed preliminary findings from an industry-wide probe into alleged exploitative airfares on local routes.
Bello recalled that the Commission had in January launched a comprehensive investigation into pricing practices by domestic carriers following widespread complaints from passengers over skyrocketing fares during the peak travel period.
According to him, the forensic assessment compared ticket prices during the December 2025 festive rush with post-peak fare levels in January 2026, drawing on data submitted by airlines operating within the country.
Preliminary findings, he said, showed that fares during the festive window were materially higher across several routes than those recorded after the peak season, despite relative stability in major cost drivers such as aviation fuel prices, government-imposed charges and foreign exchange rates.
Bello noted that the observed price differences appeared to stem from arbitrary pricing decisions, including yield management and capacity allocation strategies, rather than changes in regulatory fees or operational costs.
“Route-level analysis showed that higher fares coincided with reduced seat availability during predictable seasonal demand peaks,” he said. “On some high-density routes, peak fares were clustered within narrow price bands across multiple operators.”
The report specifically identified the Abuja–Port Harcourt corridor as one of the routes where festive fares surged to several times the post-peak levels. On selected routes, the difference in the price of a single ticket rose to as much as N405,000, while median fares across sampled routes climbed significantly during the festive period compared to January benchmarks.
While acknowledging that seasonal demand pressures, aircraft scheduling constraints and fleet utilisation challenges can influence pricing during peak travel seasons, Bello stressed that such factors remain under review as the Commission deepens its investigation.
He emphasised that the findings remain interim, with further structural and route-specific analysis ongoing before final conclusions are reached.
The FCCPC boss said the report identified potential violations under Sections 59, 72, 107, 108, 124 and 127 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, which address issues including agreements in restraint of competition, abuse of dominant position, price fixing, conspiracy, unfair contract terms and consumers’ right to fair dealings.
“Our next action will be dictated by the full facts established at the end of the review exercise,” Bello stated. “The Commission will then determine whether regulatory guidance, stakeholder engagement or enforcement measures are necessary, strictly in accordance with the law.”
In a further warning, Bello disclosed that foreign airlines would also come under scrutiny once the review of domestic carriers is concluded. This, he said, follows persistent complaints that some international airlines allegedly charge Nigerian passengers higher fares on certain routes compared to prices offered in neighbouring countries for similar travel distances.
The Commission maintained that its intervention is aimed not at disrupting legitimate commercial operations but at ensuring that market outcomes remain consistent with competition principles and consumer protection laws, particularly at a time when many Nigerians are grappling with rising living costs.