FAAN Lifts Bolt Ban After Travellers Protest Rising Airport Fares

(Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo. Photo by TVC NEws)

Nigeria's airports authority has reversed its ban on Bolt operations following pressure from the aviation minister and complaints from travellers frustrated by rising taxi fares and inconvenience.

The Minister of Aviation directed FAAN to address the problem of soaring airport taxi fares.

FAAN responded by lifting the restriction and allowing Bolt to resume operations at its airports immediately after reaching an agreement on how the service would operate.

FAAN had restricted e-hailing companies at airports to manage concerns about unregulated commercial vehicles, passenger harassment, safety risks and accountability issues.

The authority introduced ACHRAMS, a system to regulate and manage authorised airport car-hire services, but this sparked backlash when travellers faced higher fares and lost access to cheaper ride-hailing options.

FAAN clarified that ACHRAMS was not designed to compete with platforms like Bolt and Uber.

It was simply meant to manage airport taxi ranks and improve transparency.

The authority said it supports competition and has no intention of creating a monopoly in airport transportation.

The authority acknowledged that passengers got used to lower fares from e-hailing platforms and the switch to airport taxis felt like a big increase in cost.

FAAN apologised for the difficulties the suspension caused travellers and said it has listened to their concerns and made necessary adjustments.

The resolution shows that airport security and regulation can be maintained while still giving passengers access to convenient transportation choices.

FAAN is still discussing terms with other e-hailing operators and expects those talks to wrap up soon.

The authority thanked passengers for their patience and said passenger safety, security and convenience remain central to its decisions.