Kehinde Fajobi
Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has criticised the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for its recent statement regarding Air Peace’s airfare practices, labelling it as “very careless.”
On December 1, the FCCPC announced an investigation into Air Peace over consumer complaints alleging exploitative price hikes for advance bookings on certain domestic routes.
Oluwatoyin Olajide, Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, responded on Friday, describing the allegations as “damaging and unfair.”
Speaking on Arise News’ This Morning programme on Sunday, Keyamo expressed dissatisfaction with FCCPC’s approach, stating that the commission should have consulted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which oversees airline regulations.
“I think it was a very careless statement — I say that with all apologies — by the agency, without even consulting the core agency involved in regulation, which is the NCAA,” he said.
“The powers to regulate for the airline to inform about their price increase and all that is domiciled in NCAA, that is the core agency.
“We cannot have an agency of government floating all over the place, having all the powers; that means if there’s a problem with yam pricing, they will go and call the agricultural minister.
“I don’t think their powers are stretched to that point, but I say that with apologies because also I’m a minister of government.”
He argued that FCCPC should have worked with the NCAA to analyse airline pricing before singling out specific airlines.
Keyamo also highlighted broader issues plaguing the aviation industry, including airlines’ limited capacity to acquire aircraft and the impact of foreign exchange (FX) on operations.
“Nigeria’s own is even a more precarious position because it is not about maintaining the aircraft alone, but in terms of rent hiring the aircraft itself, which is what they call ACMI,” he explained.
ACMI, which stands for aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance, refers to a leasing agreement where an airline rents a fully operational aircraft.
Keyamo noted that most Nigerian airlines operate under ACMI contracts, which are heavily dependent on foreign exchange.
“With the fluctuating nature of our Naira against the dollar, you expect that it will affect their cost of operation,” he said.
The minister added that the government is working to expose domestic airlines to global markets, enabling them to access aircraft under better terms.
This, he said, is expected to reduce operating costs and ticket prices.
Keyamo credited the federal government for its recent adoption of the Cape Town Convention (CTC) practice direction, which allows domestic airlines to access aircraft through dry lease agreements.
“The Cape Town Convention is the core of the problem of the aviation industry that this president and the vice president graciously supported us to get to,” Keyamo said.
On September 12, the federal government officially signed the CTC practice direction, a move expected to ease financial burdens for Nigerian airlines.