… Says Agency’s Action Detrimental To Airlines’ Survival
The Spokesman for the Airline Operators of Nigeria(AON), Prof. Obiorah Okonkwo, has stated that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission(FCCPC) is playing to the gallery by dabbling into the issue of airfares pricing which it has no professional expertise of how it operates.
Okonkwo said this while reacting to allegation of airfares pricing leveled on domestic airline operators in Nigeria.
According to him, “I have not read the details of the report but what the FCCPC is doing is very detrimental to the survival of domestic operators. They don’t know the economics of airlines and do not possess the professional expertise to dabble into how prices are fixed.”
“They don’t understand airline operations and as far as the AON is concerned, they are playing to the gallery and should not be taken seriously. We have immense respect for all government agencies but we would not accept any statement not based on realities or facts,” he said.
Recall that the FCCPC alleged that it uncovered that some domestic airlines in the manipulated airfare prices during the last festive season.
Based on this, the Commission carried out its investigation in January.
This investigation , the Commission said led to findings contained in the interim report released by the FCCPC’s Department of Surveillance and Investigations yesterday, Thursday.
According to the Commission, the
report compared domestic airline pricing from the December 2025 festive period with post-peak January 2026 fare levels.
The report in a statement signed by the FCCPC Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, informed that preliminary analysis shows that airfares recorded during the December peak period were materially higher compared to those obtained in the post-peak period across several routes, despite relative stability in critical operating variables such: aviation fuel prices, government taxes, and foreign exchange.
According to the statement, “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.”
It continued, “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.”
To drive home its point, the Commission cited instances on route such as the Abuja-Port Harcourt, where peak, it said airfares were several times higher compared to corresponding post-peak levels.
On selected routes, the Commission posited that the difference in the price of a single ticket stood at approximately ₦405,000 while median fares across the sampled routes also rose markedly during the festive window when compared with post-peak benchmarks.
The statement, however noted the interim report recognises that seasonal demand pressures, scheduling constraints and fleet utilisation may also affect pricing during peak travel periods.
These factors, the Commission pointed out remain under consideration as part of the commission’s ongoing review
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