Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo has intervened in a heated dispute between the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and Air Peace over allegations of exploitative ticket pricing. The clash began after FCCPC summoned Air Peace to address claims of excessive fares, prompting strong reactions from the airline.
On Friday, Air Peace Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, held a press briefing to refute the FCCPC’s accusations. She criticized the lack of data to support the claims, explaining that ticket prices are determined by operational costs.
Highlighting the impact of expensive aviation fuel, she revealed that operating a one-hour flight costs approximately ₦7 million, suggesting that tickets for such flights could reasonably range between ₦500,000 and ₦700,000.
In response, the FCCPC issued a statement on Sunday defending its investigation.
Director, Corporate Affairs of FCCPC, Ondaje Ijagwu in a statement said, “some other petitions before the Commission accuse Air Peace of being the one instigating other airlines (which ironically possess far smaller fleet individually) to hike fares in the local aviation industry.
“Also, some petitioners have accused Air Peace of cancelling flights arbitrarily without care nor compensation for passengers.
“Only penultimate Friday (November 29), the domestic wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport witnessed a rampage by irate passengers of Air Peace at 10PM following more than four-hour delay on the Abuja-Lagos service, thereby threatening public peace. It took the intervention of a combined team of security agents to restore normalcy that night at the nation’s premium international gateway.
“For the avoidance of doubt, let it therefore be noted that no amount of blackmail or cowboy tactics can stop the Commission from the ongoing thorough investigation of the allegations against Air Peace with a view to taking the appropriate action in accordance with the provisions of the FCCPA.”
Keyamo, speaking on national TV on Sunday he said, “I think it was a very careless statement – I say that with all apology – by the agency, making such a statement without consulting the core agency involved in regulation, which is the NCAA. The power to regulate these airlines and for the airlines to inform about their price increase and all of that is domiciled in the NCAA; that is the core agency.”
“They should have contacted the NCAA for them to look at the books, which we have been doing, so we would have given them facts. But to single out a few airlines that we are struggling to expose to the world for them to get more enhanced capacity, it was a bit careless,” he added.
