The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has concluded its investigation into the elevated airfares charged by domestic airlines during the 2025 Yuletide travel season and is considering whether to mandate airlines to refund affected passengers who paid prices the commission believes were excessive.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Mr Tunji Bello, confirmed the completion of the investigation and disclosed that the commission was evaluating the appropriate remedy — including the possibility of requiring airlines to issue refunds to passengers who travelled during the period when prices reached levels that drew widespread public complaints and media attention.
What the Investigation Examined
The FCCPC investigation focused on the pricing behaviour of domestic carriers during the December 2025 to January 2026 Yuletide travel window — a period that consistently generates Nigeria's highest domestic air travel demand as Nigerians travel home for the festive season. Passengers and consumer advocacy groups had complained that airlines exploited the demand surge to charge fares significantly above levels that could be justified by operating costs, with some routes recording fares several multiples of their non-peak equivalents.
The FCCPC's inquiry examined whether the pricing behaviour of airlines constituted anti-competitive conduct, exploitative pricing, or a violation of consumer protection obligations under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act — the legislation that governs the commission's enforcement powers across all sectors of the Nigerian economy, including aviation.
The Airlines' Defence
Airlines have consistently argued that Yuletide fare increases reflect genuine supply and demand dynamics — constrained fleet capacity at a time of peak demand — rather than exploitative pricing. Carriers have pointed to their own elevated operating costs, including Jet A1 aviation fuel at prices that reached between ₦1,900 and ₦2,000 per litre in 2026, as the underlying driver of fare levels across the year. They have also noted that the layered statutory charges — NCAA levies, FAAN fees, NAMA navigational charges, VAT, and multiple other deductions — leave very little of each ticket's face value in the airline's own hands.
Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema has publicly disclosed that from a domestic fare of approximately ₦350,000, barely ₦81,000 ultimately reaches the airline after all deductions — a figure that, if accurate, frames the consumer affordability crisis as a function of the charge structure rather than airline profitability.
The Implications of a Refund Order
If the FCCPC were to order airlines to refund affected passengers, it would represent a landmark moment in Nigerian consumer protection enforcement — one that establishes a precedent for the commission's authority over pricing behaviour in the aviation sector and signals to carriers that peak-period pricing strategies are subject to regulatory scrutiny beyond the NCAA's consumer protection mandate.
The aviation industry will be watching the FCCPC's final decision closely. The commission said it would communicate its determination through appropriate official channels once the internal review process is complete.
