The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has found five Nigerian airlines guilty of price fixing.

A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, disclosed this in a statement on X on Thursday, citing the conclusion of a preliminary investigation.

According to him, the guilty airlines would be sanctioned and asked to refund the excess charges to customers.

“With the preliminary investigations concluded, the FCCPC is set to sanction about five airlines guilty of colluding to fix prices during the last Christmas/New Year holidays. Dr. Tunji Bello, EVC of the FCCPC, disclosed this today at the State House Meet the Press Session.

“These airlines may be asked to refund the excess to the customers. Prices went up as far as N405,000 and N600,000. A final report will be ready shortly,” he wrote on X.

Recall that the commission, in a statement on February 26, uncovered price manipulation by local airlines during last year’s festive period.

The price manipulation saw airline passengers pay as much as N700,000 for a single one-hour trip, which prompted the Nigerian Senate to raise the alarm.