The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has reportedly found five airlines guilty of colluding to fix ticket prices during the 2025 Christmas and New Year festive travel period.
This disclosure was made by Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Media & Public Communication/Spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, via his official X account on Thursday.
This comes weeks after the FCCPC released an interim report that claims it uncovered patterns of price manipulation during the festive season.
The FCCPC is yet to share this latest development via their official channels, and the names of the guilty airlines are yet to be disclosed.
What they are saying
According to Dare, the Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Tunji Bello, revealed the findings during a State House “Meet the Press” session. The announcement followed preliminary investigations into sharp increases in airfares during the 2025 festive season, which reportedly surged to between N405,000 and N600,000 on some routes.
- “With its preliminary investigations concluded, the FCCPC is set to sanction about 5 airlines guilty of colluding to fix prices during the last Christmas/ New Year holidays. Dr. Tunji Bello, EVC of the FCCPC disclosed this today at the State House Meet the Press Session.”
The statement further noted that the airlines involved may soon face sanctions from the commission.
Passengers may also be eligible for refunds of excess charges collected during the period of the alleged price fixing.
The names of the airlines were not disclosed, and a final report is expected to be released shortly.
The preliminary disclosure indicates the FCCPC is moving towards regulatory action, though formal sanctions and details remain forthcoming.
Get up to speed
The FCCPC’s investigation began following public complaints about sharp fare hikes on routes to the South-East and South-South regions during the 2025 Christmas festive season, where tickets reportedly reached as high as N600,000.
- Its interim report, released in February, claimed it uncovered patterns of price manipulation specifically during the December 2025 holidays.
- The findings, according to Ondaje Ijagwu, Director of Corporate Affairs, were based on data comparing December 2025 fares with post-peak January 2026 ticket prices.
The report noted that higher fares coincided with reduced seat availability during predictable seasonal demand peaks.
What you should know
The public had called on the FG to intervene following sharp fare increases during the 2025 festive season. In response, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said the federal government cannot fix or control airfares, stressing that pricing in Nigeria’s deregulated aviation market is driven entirely by market forces.
- Aviation expert Dr. Alex Nwuba, President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Nigeria, explained that December fare surges are a recurring seasonal pattern.
- He said prices rise sharply because many travellers book late, pushing tickets into higher fare brackets.
Nwuba noted that tickets are sold in a “bucket” system, with early buyers benefiting from lower fares, and added that limited aircraft capacity, a weakened naira, high global fuel costs, and multiple aviation charges further drive up ticket prices. He called for reforms to taxation and operational charges to ease peak-period fare spikes and improve affordability.
