Travel agencies in the country have welcomed latest move by the Federal Government, through its agency, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to commence investigations into what they called ‘unjustifiable’ fares charged by domestic airlines, describing the move as ‘a welcome development.’

Reacting to the FCCPC planned investigation, President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mrs Susan Akporiaye slammed the airfares charged by domestic airlines are ‘raging and unbelievable.’ 

According to Mrs Akporiaye, NANTA had previously sought the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and the National Assembly Committee on Aviation, in wading into the matter, which she admitted has ‘made life difficult for the Nigerian travelling public and further negatively impacting the survival of travel business operators in the country.’ 

Akporiaye further noted that NANTA is only acting in response ‘to the cries of Nigerian travelling public,’ as it has now taken decisive advocacy steps to finding a lasting solution to it following mounting complaints.

“NANTA is elated beyond measure by the response of the Federal Government through its consumer protection and regulatory agency to wade into this matter, which has become seemingly unending. 

“We want to appreciate Government through the Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, who has assured the sector that investigations would commence into the present structure of Airfares in Nigeria and bring it to an acceptable regime,” she stated.

Akporiaye described Mr Irukera’ s announcement as ‘a Christmas and New Year gift to travel agents who have borne the backlash of the fare hikes by airlines operating in Nigeria.’ 

“This is it, and we want to appreciate Mr. President, for gifting us an FCCPC, headed by a thorough professional, and to this end, we will endeavour to help the regulatory authority with whatever information that can help bring back sanity to fare management issues and give some respite to our Nigerian customers,” the NANTA president stressed. 

It would be recalled that the FCCPC boss, Irukera, had last Thursday in Abuja, while hosting the press to the end of year party,  promised to run a detailed investigation into the high airfare regime in Nigeria, noting that as important as that may sound, it is however a difficult task determining price hikes,  particularly airfare.

The FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman, in wading into the air fares charged by the airlines, explained that it is only fair to conduct a thorough investigation before decisive intervention steps are taken. 

“There’s a provision in law against price gouging. Nigeria is a free market economy where the buyer and seller agrees to determine cost. Do we, as a regulator, have the power to impose price? No, we don’t. So one way to determine excessive pricing is through investigation,” he said. 

The FCCPC boss further revealed in his usual detailed presentation that forensic studies in airfare pricing remained the most complex in the market investigation ecosystem, adding that it is possible to travel at a short distance and pay more, even with someone sitting beside you, paying something different.  

Describing the phenomenon as a ‘competition issue,’ Irukera, however, noted that ‘there are many issues that must be considered when investigating hikes on airfare.’  

“We believe that airfare in Nigeria is too high, but it will amount to an abuse of office by the regulatory authority to take action just because we feel the price is high. Our duty is to establish evidence and confront the body, and that’s hard work,” he clarified.