*Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission warns Air Peace, an indigenous airline, against attempts at confusing issues raised against it, and distracting the Commission from the ongoing inquiry into the aviator’s alleged exploitative ticket pricing and related consumer rights abuses

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

Against the backdrop of several petitions against the aviation firm on consumer rights violations, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has warned Air Peace against its attempts at confusing issues raised and distracting the market regulatory Commission from the ongoing inquiry into the aviator’s alleged exploitative ticket pricing and related consumer rights abuses.

The FCCPC, in a statement Sunday, December 8, 2024, said it was surprised at the latest outburst by Air Peace in what seems “a series of ploys calculated to both obfuscate the issues and distract the Commission from the ongoing inquiry into alleged exploitative ticket pricing among other potential violations of consumers鈥� rights.”

Ondaje Ijagwu, Director of Corporate Affairs at the Commission, in the statement recalled the FCCPC recently聽 refuted a report syndicated in a section of the media.

Ijagwu stated the said news report “grossly misrepresented the proceedings at a meeting between its officials and Air Peace team earlier on December 3 at the Commission鈥檚 Abuja Headquarters, as a follow-up to an avalanche of petitions received from passengers in recent times.”

The Commission noted although Section 33 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 grants the Commission discretionary power to conduct inquiries in public or in camera, yet it chose to conduct the December 3 session in camera as “a gesture of good faith to preserve the confidentiality.”

Is Air Peace doing Nigeria a favour by flying?

According to the Commission, shortly after the session had ended, leaks appeared in the media attributing unfounded but prejudicial statements to the Commission鈥檚 officials, categorically declaring that 鈥淎ir Peace was not under investigation鈥�.

The FCCPC also stated that same leaks copiously quoted the Air Peace鈥檚 Chairman, Mr. Allen Onyema, engaging in ostentation of self-adulation.

The FCCPC said: “Curiously, the same media leaks omitted a boastful statement by Mr. Onyema at the same December 3 engagement that he could decide to shut down the airline, ostensibly to show he was doing the nation a favour by flying.”

The Director of Corporate Affairs further stated that in the Commission’s December 5 statement, the market regulator reiterated that the inquiry was still ongoing.

It further urged the public to be wary of “manufactured news, since the report was not disseminated on the Commission鈥檚 official communication platforms.”

On firm’s take on consumer rights violations, and ‘outlandish claims鈥�

The Commission, in the statement, observed that in a dramatic turn of events on Friday, December 6, Air Peace again, addressed a press conference, in Lagos, where it made several outlandish claims and innuendos obviously intended to whip up sentiments but conveniently avoided addressing the real issues.

The FCCPC noted: “For instance, in asserting that only the aviation regulatory agency could inquire into its affairs, Air Peace only betrays a terribly poor understanding of both the legal and moral pillars of its operating environment.

“Passengers are consumers of its services. Their rights are inalienable and guaranteed under the FCCPA. It is the basis of FCCPC鈥� intervention.”

The FCCPC averred: “As stipulated in Section 17(e) of the FCCPA 2018, the FCCPC is mandated to carry out inquiries considered necessary or desirable in connection with any matter falling within the purview of the Act. Furthermore, Section 127(1)(a) empowers the FCCPC to ensure that pricing practices across all sectors, including aviation, are fair, competitive, and non-exploitative.

The Commission declared: “Specifically, it states that no undertaking shall offer to supply, supply, or enter into an agreement to supply goods or services at a price or on terms that are manifestly unfair, unreasonable, or unjust.

“Pursuant to Section 148(3)(c) of the FCCPA 2018, the FCCPC, upon receipt of a consumer complaint, can direct an inspector to institute an inquiry and investigate the matter as quickly as practicable to determine whether the undertaking has acted inconsistently with the provisions of the Act.”

Air Peace’s figures on fuelling costs, airfares don’t add up, says FCCPC

Ijagwu also said: “The inquiry into Air Peace鈥檚 pricing practices stems from allegations of unjustified fare increases on advance bookings for certain domestic routes, lack of transparency in pricing structures and practices that potentially contravene consumer rights and fair competition principles.

“Even more disturbing was the assertion by Air Peace at the press conference that the sum of between N500,000 and N700,000 should be the ideal fare for a one-hour domestic flight in Nigeria.”

The Commission as well noted the aviation company has聽 claimed it spends an average of N7m to fuel an aircraft for a one-hour flight. But some of the petitions by consumers before the Commission strongly contest such claim.

The Commission, however, contradicted the firm’s claim, and noted: “The argument is made that the typical Boeing 737-500 flown by Air Peace takes N4m to fill a tank of 4,500-litre Jet A1 capacity.

“With a full load of 120 passengers by a Boeing 737-500 vessel, a whopping N24m is earned when a one-hour flight is sold at the current average of N200,000. At the N500,000 being proposed by Air Peace as the 鈥渕ost ideal fare鈥�, it then means a Boeing 737-500 would be fetching a whopping N60m per one-hour service!

The statement said: “Interestingly, at a time Air Peace proposes N500,000, another airline has reduced fare to N80,000 on not just one-hour Abuja-Lagos flight but also on other domestic routes, thereby demonstrating that affordability and operational sustainability can coexist in the same operating environment. “That recent singular action by a competitor has led some petitioners to ask whether the fuel Air Peace uses is being imported from the United States at a higher cost.”

Price fixing, flight cancellations, and what consumers’ petitions against Air Peace reveal

The FCCPC stated that some other petitions by air travellers before the Commission also accused Air Peace of being “the one instigating other airlines (which ironically possess far smaller fleet individually) to hike fares in the local aviation industry.”

The Commission further disclosed that some petitioners equally accused Air Peace of “cancelling flights arbitrarily without care nor compensation for passengers.”

The statement noted that on Friday, November 29, the domestic wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, in Abuja, FCT, witnessed a rampage by irate passengers of Air Peace at 10 p.m., following over 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鈥檚 premium international gateway, the Commission said.

It further stated: “Passengers have also complained that when they sought to utilise their tickets on another day after suffering untold inconveniences of flight delay or cancellation earlier, they were asked and forced to pay 50% surcharge.

“These are some of the weighty issues the Commission is looking into with a view to ensuring that Nigerian passengers are not exploited unduly through price-fixing and gouging.”

The Director of Corporate Affairs at FCCPC stated: “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.

“The Commission reassures the public that it remains resolute in its mandate under Section 104 of the FCCPA, which establishes the Act as the principal legislation governing competition and consumer protection in Nigeria.”

The FCCPC restated: “The Commission is committed to safeguarding consumer rights, promoting market fairness, and fostering a competitive and transparent marketplace across all sectors, including aviation.”

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