The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, has summoned Air Peace Limited for failing to refund passengers for cancelled flights.
According to a statement issued by Mr. Ondaje Ijagwu, Director of Corporate Affairs at the Commission, the summons follows a growing number of complaints from customers nationwide who claim that Air Peace did not return fares for flights that were either abruptly cancelled or never operated.
The Commission stated that Air Peace’s failure to issue timely refunds may be in direct violation of Sections 130(1)(a), 130(1)(b), and 130(2)(b) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) of 2018, which enshrines the right of consumers to receive prompt refunds for unfulfilled services.
Ijagwu emphasized the legal requirement for businesses to engage in fair dealings and to avoid unjust or exploitative conduct.
“This provision enshrines the principle of fair dealing and safeguards consumers against unfair, unjust, or unreasonable practices by service-providers,” he said.
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As part of the probe, the FCCPC issued a formal summons on June 13, requiring Air Peace to appear before the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on June 23, 2025. The airline is expected to submit several key documents, including:
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A comprehensive complaint log detailing refund-related grievances from the past 12 months.
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A record of all processed refunds within the same period.
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A list of cancelled flights across all routes within the past year.
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Evidence of remedial actions taken to ease the inconvenience experienced by affected passengers.
Under Section 33(3) of the FCCPA, failure to comply with such a summons could attract serious penalties, including monetary fines or imprisonment.
This development comes amid heightened scrutiny of the airline’s operational and commercial practices. Ijagwu also disclosed that in 2024, the Commission began investigating Air Peace over separate allegations of exploitative ticket pricing, particularly unusually high fares for advance bookings on key domestic routes.
However, the airline, in response to that investigation, filed a legal case seeking to restrain the FCCPC from pursuing the inquiry further.
The Commission has clarified that the current summons over refunds is entirely distinct from the pricing probe and will proceed independently.
Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest indigenous carrier, is yet to issue a public response to the Commission’s summons.
NAN
