A review undertaken by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has uncovered patterns of price manipulation perpetrated by some local airlines during the last festive season.
Political Economist NG reports that Air Peace, Aero, United Nigeria, Azman, Arik air and other local airlines in Nigeria hiked prices during the Yuletide triggering complaints of cheating and profiteering from passengers.
Passengers who booked ahead of Christmas at lower prices had their bookings cancelled and were made to pay more against established global practices.
The FCCPC findings are contained in the interim report released Thursday by the Commission’s department of Surveillance and Investigations.
The Commission announced an industry-wide investigation earlier in January.
The forensic exercise benefitted from data collated by the Commission from airlines operating local routes in the country.
The report compares domestic airline pricing from the December 2025 festive period with post-peak January 2026 fare levels.
Preliminary analysis indicates that fares recorded during the December peak were materially higher than those observed in the post-peak period across several routes despite relative stability in critical operating variables like fuel price, government taxes and foreign exchange.
The differences observed in fares therefore appear to reflect airlines’ arbitrary pricing decisions, including yield management and capacity allocation, rather than any variation in regulatory fees.
Route-level analysis shows that higher fares coincided with periods of reduced seat availability during predictable seasonal demand peaks. On some high density routes, peak fares were clustered within relatively narrow ranges across several operators.
For instance, on certain corridors like Abuja-Port Harcourt, peak fares were several times higher than corresponding post-peak levels. On selected routes, the difference in the price of a single ticket reached approximately ₦405,000. Median fares across the sampled routes also rose markedly during the festive window when compared with post-peak benchmarks.
However, the interim report recognises that seasonal demand pressures, scheduling constraints and fleet utilisation may also affect pricing during peak travel periods.
These factors remain under consideration as part of the Commission’s ongoing review.
Commenting on the release of the interim report, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello, said the review is part of the Commission’s statutory responsibility to promote competitive markets and safeguard consumers.
“This assessment is intended to provide clarity on pricing behaviour during predictable peak travel periods. The Commission’s role is not to disrupt legitimate commercial activity, but to ensure that market outcomes remain consistent with competition and consumer protection principles under the law,” Mr. Bello said.
He noted that the Commission is conducting further structural and route-level analysis before reaching any conclusions.
“It is important to emphasise that this is an interim report. Our next action will be dictated by full facts established at the end of the review exercise. Then, the Commission will decide whether any regulatory guidance, engagement or enforcement steps are necessary, strictly in accordance with the law,” he said.
The report identifies the possible relevance of Sections 59, 72, 107, 108, 124 and 127 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, which respectively address the prohibition of agreements in restraint of competition, the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position, the offence of price-fixing, conspiracy to commit offences under the Act, the right to fair dealings, and the prohibition of unfair, unreasonable or unjust contract terms.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bello announced that foreign airlines will come under FCCPC radar after the ongoing review of local airlines in view of widespread complaints of exploitative fares they allegedly charge Nigerians on certain routes compared to fares in neighbouring countries that are of equal distance.
