By Miriam Humbe
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has summoned the management of Air Peace Limited over a deluge of consumer complaints from across the country relating to the non-refund of ticket fares, even in instances where the airline had cancelled its flight operations.
FCCPC’s Director, Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu disclosed this in a statement signed on Monday.
The Air Peace actions potentially contravene Sections 130(1)(a) and (b), and 130(2)(b) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, which expressly guarantee consumers the right to timely refunds where advance bookings, reservations, or orders are unfulfilled due to service-provider’s failure.
This provision enshrines the principle of fair dealing and safeguards consumers against unfair, unjust, or unreasonable practices by service-providers.
In a formal summons dated June 13, 2025, the Commission, invoking Sections 32 and 33 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, required Air Peace to appear before the Commission at its Abuja Headquarters on Monday, June 23, 2025.
Specifically, Section 33(3) of the FCCPA mandates compliance and failure attracts severe sanctions including fines or imprisonment.
The airline is further directed to produce documentary evidence including complaint log for refunds over the past 12 months, total records of processed refunds to date, list of cancelled flights on all routes within the past 12 months, and remedial actions taken to mitigate consumer hardship resulting from cancelled flights.
Earlier in December 2024, the FCCPC had commenced inquiries into separate allegations of exploitative ticket pricing, including substantial price hikes for advance bookings on certain domestic routes by Air Peace.
In response, the airline instituted legal proceedings seeking to restrain the Commission from continuing its inquiry.
This is an entirely different matter.
The FCCPC remains committed to enforcing the provisions of the FCCPA (2018) and holding service providers accountable and ensuring that consumers, including airline passengers, are protected from exploitative or unfair market practices.
