Nigeria’s airport authority has moved to ease concerns that passengers could lose access to app-based transport at the country’s airports, saying ride-hailing services remain welcome.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said on Thursday that its position should not be interpreted as a ban on services offered by Uber, Bolt or other ride-hailing companies.
Instead, the authority said it is developing an operational framework to improve security, passenger safety and accountability for commercial vehicles operating within airport premises.
The announcement comes as FAAN pushes for a broader overhaul of airport ground transportation, including a digital Airport Car Hire Rank Management System (ACHRMS) and stricter requirements for traditional airport taxi operators.
The reforms have already sparked protests and complaints from drivers over vehicle requirements and rising operating costs.
At the heart of the dispute is a clash between two models of airport transport: the traditional system of licensed taxis and commercial operators working from designated ranks, and the app-based model, where passengers select and book drivers through their phones.
FAAN’s latest intervention suggests the authority is trying to regulate both systems without appearing to favour one over the other.
FAAN’s dual role at Nigeria’s airports
FAAN has broad responsibilities under the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria Act 2022.
The authority is responsible for providing safe and secure airport facilities while also developing surface transportation within airports. It can also undertake commercial and non-aeronautical activities directly or through agreements with private companies.
That combination of responsibilities sits at the centre of the current dispute.
Airports are highly controlled security environments, but they are also commercial spaces where parking, retail, access fees and ground transportation generate revenue.
For a ride-hailing driver, operating at an airport is therefore different from picking up a passenger on an ordinary city street.
Drivers must pass through controlled access points, operate around security zones and collect passengers in areas where authorities need to know who is operating, where vehicles are stopping and whether drivers have the necessary approvals.
FAAN has also long treated unauthorised solicitation as a passenger safety and security concern. Its passenger guidance warns travellers against using unauthorised transport providers, partly because loosely organised commercial activity can expose passengers to fraud, harassment and poor accountability.
Ride-hailing, however, does not fit neatly into the traditional airport taxi model.
A passenger can book a vehicle before leaving the arrivals hall. The driver may never need to approach or solicit the passenger at the terminal.
But the trip still begins on airport property, where access, traffic management and commercial activity remain subject to FAAN’s rules.
That appears to be the key issue behind the authority’s proposed framework.
Why FAAN’s digital taxi system has caused tension
The debate over ride-hailing has emerged alongside FAAN’s efforts to digitise the traditional airport taxi system.
The Airport Car Hire Rank Management System is designed to centralise the management of airport taxis. FAAN says the system will address problems including inconsistent service standards, weak coordination and security concerns.
The authority has described the system as an attempt to modernise the sector rather than eliminate traditional operators.
Taxi drivers, however, have raised concerns about the cost of complying with the reforms.
In June and July, airport cab operators protested against proposed vehicle upgrade requirements and revised operating charges. FAAN defended the changes as part of efforts to improve safety and service quality while considering extensions for operators struggling to meet the requirements.
The dispute highlights the financial pressure behind the reforms.
For drivers, replacing an older vehicle with a newer one can require significant capital at a time when borrowing costs remain high and household purchasing power is under pressure.
A digital dispatch system could also change how passengers are allocated among drivers, reducing the advantage traditionally enjoyed by operators who control physical taxi ranks.
Ride-hailing platforms introduce another layer of competition.
Passengers who can choose a driver through an app are less dependent on the airport taxi queue. That gives travellers more choice but challenges a system in which access to arriving passengers has historically depended on physical presence and airport licensing.
FAAN is therefore facing the difficult task of regulating two competing systems within the same airport environment.
When FAAN previously turned to e-hailing
There is an interesting precedent.
In 2023, FAAN suspended airport taxi services at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport following a dispute among car-hire operators.
At the time, the authority advised passengers to use secure alternatives, including e-hailing services.
Three years later, FAAN is not reversing that position. Instead, it is trying to determine how app-based transport can operate within an airport system built around controlled commercial access.
The question is no longer whether passengers should be allowed to use ride-hailing services.
It is how those services should be regulated.
Security, competition and control
FAAN says passenger safety is the main reason for the new framework.
That argument is understandable. Airports are among the most tightly regulated transport environments, with restricted areas, controlled vehicle access and multiple layers of security.
But security is not the only issue.
The deeper question is who determines the conditions under which private technology companies can access major public transport hubs.
That question matters because modern airports increasingly depend on revenue generated outside aviation. Parking, retail, advertising, lounges and ground transportation have become important parts of the airport business model.
Nigeria’s airport concession strategy reflects the same shift, with the government placing greater emphasis on non-aeronautical revenue.
The challenge for FAAN is to regulate airport transport without creating the impression that regulation is being used to protect established operators from competition.
Its latest statement appears aimed at addressing that concern.
The authority says it does not intend to exclude ride-hailing companies. Instead, it wants to create rules that allow them to operate while meeting airport security and operational requirements.
The details will matter.
FAAN has not yet publicly set out the final commercial terms, access arrangements and technical requirements that would govern the integration of ride-hailing companies into the airport transport system.
Those rules could determine whether the new framework improves competition and passenger choice or simply creates another layer of permits, fees and bureaucracy.
Nigeria’s bigger airport transport test
The ride-hailing debate comes as FAAN is already dealing with the challenges of digitising other aspects of airport access.
Earlier this year, the federal government intervened after the introduction of a fully cashless airport access-gate payment system contributed to traffic congestion. A hybrid payment arrangement was subsequently restored while authorities worked towards a more automated system.
That episode offers an important lesson for the ride-hailing reforms.
Digital systems can make services more transparent and efficient, but only when the physical infrastructure and operational systems are ready to support them.
The same principle will apply to airport transport.
A successful system would allow passengers to book vehicles freely while ensuring that drivers entering airport grounds can be identified and managed.
It would also need to prevent unauthorised solicitation without turning legitimate ride-hailing drivers into targets of arbitrary enforcement.
Traditional taxi operators face the risk that digital platforms will accelerate changes in passenger behaviour that they cannot easily match.
Ride-hailing companies, meanwhile, face the possibility that airport access could become complicated by permits, concessions and operating restrictions that make a supposedly seamless service less convenient.
Ultimately, passengers may determine which model works best.
The journey from an airport terminal is often a traveller’s first experience of a city. In Nigeria, that journey is becoming a test of whether public infrastructure built around licences, physical taxi ranks and controlled access can adapt to a transport industry increasingly organised by software.
FAAN has made clear that it does not intend to ban ride-hailing.
Its bigger challenge will be deciding how much of the traditional airport transport system must change to make room for it.
