The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has denied introducing or imposing the controversial N30,000 taxi fare for trips from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
FAAN clarified that the fare existed before the introduction of its Airport Car Hire Rank Management System (ACHRAMS) and was not created or fixed by the authority.
The clarification followed public outrage after travel content creator Chris Joondeph, popularly known as Authentic Travelling, shared a video showing a quoted N30,000 fare for a journey from the Lagos airport to Radisson Hotel in Ikeja.
However, the same trip was reportedly listed at N6,900 on another e-hailing platform, while Uber quoted N4,200 for UberX and N5,800 for its Priority option, fuelling criticism over the airport taxi charges.
FAAN, in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, said ACHRAMS was introduced to improve the management, visibility and transparency of authorised airport car-hire operations, not to determine taxi fares.
The authority explained that the system merely made existing airport taxi rates more visible to passengers.
FAAN also acknowledged that the availability of cheaper fares on e-hailing platforms such as Uber and Bolt had intensified concerns over the airport taxi charges.
Meanwhile, FAAN announced that it had resolved its operational issues with Bolt, clearing the e-hailing company to resume services at airports managed by the authority.
According to FAAN, its efforts to regulate commercial transportation at airports were driven by longstanding concerns including passenger solicitation, touting, random pick-ups, unregulated operations, and safety and security risks.
The authority stressed that it supports healthy competition and has no intention of creating a monopoly in airport transportation.
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