Bolt has been cleared to resume operations at airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), days after a disruption in e-hailing services triggered complaints from passengers over higher transport costs.
FAAN announced the decision on Thursday, saying it reached an agreement with Bolt after discussions aimed at creating a workable framework for e-hailing services within airport premises. The authority said Bolt can now resume its services immediately.
The reversal follows growing concerns from travellers who said the temporary interruption had left them with fewer transport options and higher fares. FAAN apologised for the inconvenience and said its earlier actions were driven by regulatory, safety and security concerns rather than an attempt to increase transport costs.
The airport authority said it is also holding discussions with other e-hailing companies and expects those engagements to be concluded soon. It stressed that passengers should remain free to choose among authorised transport services, provided those services operate within approved airport safety and security rules.
FAAN said it has been working for almost a decade to address problems linked to commercial and e-hailing vehicles at airports. These include passenger solicitation, touting, unregulated operations, random pick-ups and concerns over accountability and security.
To tackle the problems, FAAN introduced the Airport Car Hire Rank Management System, known as ACHRAMS. The agency clarified that ACHRAMS is not an e-hailing platform and was not created to compete with Bolt, Uber or other mobility companies. Its role, FAAN said, is to manage airport car-hire ranks and authorised transport operations.
FAAN also pushed back against claims that it had introduced new airport taxi fares through ACHRAMS. The agency said the fares existed before the system and that ACHRAMS mainly made the existing rates more visible to passengers, although the contrast with cheaper e-hailing prices had fuelled public concern.
The authority said it supports competition and does not intend to create a monopoly in airport transportation. It added that discussions with other e-hailing operators would continue as it seeks to balance passenger convenience with the need for a safer, more organised and accountable transport system at Nigerian airports.
