The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has approved Bolt to immediately resume its ride-hailing services at Nigerian airports after reaching an operational agreement with the company.
The development follows a dispute between FAAN and the ride-hailing platform that temporarily disrupted Bolt’s airport operations and generated complaints from passengers.
In a statement issued on Thursday, FAAN Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbegire, said the disagreement followed years of efforts by the authority to address safety, security and accountability concerns involving commercial and e-hailing vehicles operating at airports.
The concerns included unregulated passenger pickups and solicitation, as well as cases involving drivers operating across multiple platforms.
FAAN also denied claims that it controls or sets airport taxi fares, stressing that the fares existed independently of the authority.
“We sincerely apologise for the difficulties this caused our passengers,” Mr. Henry Agbegire, director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, confirmed in a statement made available to Techeconomy, adding that FAAN had “listened, reflected and made the necessary adjustments.”
FAAN Explains Airport Car-Hire System
The authority said the concerns surrounding airport transportation led to the introduction of ACHRAMS, an airport car-hire management system.
FAAN clarified that ACHRAMS is not an e-hailing application and does not compete with Bolt, Uber or other mobility platforms.
The authority also responded to criticism over airport taxi fares, explaining that the rates recently discussed publicly were neither newly introduced by FAAN nor created by ACHRAMS.
According to FAAN, the system simply made existing fares more visible to passengers. This drew attention because some airport taxi rates appeared significantly higher than the prices passengers were accustomed to paying through e-hailing services.
Talks With Other E-Hailing Platforms Continue
FAAN said discussions with other e-hailing companies are ongoing and are expected to conclude “in the coming days.” The authority did not identify the platforms still involved in discussions.
It maintained that its actions were motivated by regulatory, safety and security concerns rather than commercial interests.
FAAN also rejected suggestions that it was seeking to establish a monopoly over airport transportation.
The authority apologised to passengers affected by the temporary disruption and thanked them for their patience and understanding while the matter was being resolved.
