Airlines fined for colluding on 2025 holiday ticket prices

Five airlines guilty of Christmas price-fixing in 2025 holiday travel scandal

Five airlines have been found guilty of colluding to fix ticket prices during the 2025 Christmas and New Year travel period. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced the findings, which follow months of public complaints over soaring fares. Some routes to Nigeria's South-East and South-South regions saw tickets climb as high as N600,000.

The guilty airlines now face potential sanctions, while affected passengers may receive refunds for overcharges. Meanwhile, the Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON) has denied wrongdoing, claiming fare hikes were simply market-driven adjustments.

The FCCPC's investigation began after widespread outrage over steep fare increases during the 2025 festive season. Travellers reported exorbitant costs, particularly on routes serving the South-East and South-South, where a single ticket reached N600,000 in some cases. Public pressure mounted, with calls for government intervention to curb the price surges.

However, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, clarified that the federal government could not regulate fares in Nigeria's deregulated aviation sector. Despite this, the FCCPC pressed ahead with its probe. An interim report released weeks earlier revealed clear patterns of price manipulation, leading to the final ruling.

On March 10, 2026, Germany's Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) also fined five airlines—Lufthansa, Eurowings, Turkish Airlines, SunExpress, and Corendon Airlines—€50 million each for similar price-fixing during the same period. The airlines were given 30 days to pay, with the option to appeal. Back in Nigeria, the AON dismissed the FCCPC's findings, insisting that fare changes were standard industry responses to demand and operational costs.

The FCCPC's verdict was made public on Thursday via the official X account of Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication to President Bola Tinubu.

The guilty airlines may now face sanctions from the FCCPC, while passengers who paid inflated fares could be eligible for refunds. The ruling comes after a lengthy investigation triggered by public complaints and an interim report highlighting suspicious pricing trends.

The outcome also aligns with a separate decision by Germany's competition watchdog, which penalised five international carriers for similar offences during the same holiday period.