FAAN Suspends Uber, Bolt Operations at Abuja, Lagos Airports Pending Talks

Airport authority seeks tighter control of taxi operations, insists on compliance with vehicle-age rules. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has temporarily suspended the operations of e-hailing platforms Uber and Bolt at the Abuja, Lagos and other airports under its management, pending the conclusion of discussions between the airport authority and the ride-hailing companies. The development is part of efforts by FAAN to reorganise and streamline taxi operations at the nation’s airports and establish greater oversight over the services provided to arriving and departing air travellers. A lawyer involved in discussions with taxi operators at the Lagos airport, Williams Ikem, told THISDAY that FAAN had moved to restructure the system under which airport taxis operate, with the authority seeking to exercise greater control over operators and the standards of service offered to passengers. Ikem explained that FAAN had, over the years, moved away from recognising taxi associations at the airports and instead opted to deal with individual operators as companies. “Over the years, FAAN had frowned at taxi association like the then Airport Car Hire Association of Nigeria and has decided to recognise the operators as individual companies, in an effort to streamline taxi operation at the airports,” he said. According to him, some of the traditional airport car-hire operators have operated at the airports for years and made financial contributions towards maintaining their presence and operations within the facilities. He said the disagreement with Uber and Bolt largely centres on differences in the requirements imposed by FAAN and those of the e-hailing companies, particularly with regard to the age of vehicles permitted to operate at the airports. “These car hire operators have made financial contributions to be operating at the airports, but Uber and Bolt are not complying with FAAN’s regulations,” Ikem said. He added that FAAN had stipulated that vehicles operating as taxis at the airports should not be more than a specified age. “For example, FAAN wants relatively new vehicles as taxis. So, it directed that all vehicles used at taxis at the airport must not be older than 2012. Uber and Bolt have different criteria. Their inspectors want cars that have air conditioning and meets all other conditions of road worthiness, but FAAN is interested in the age of the vehicles,” he explained. The dispute, however, extends beyond vehicle specifications, with FAAN also seeking formal agreements with the e-hailing companies to regulate their operations within airport premises. Ikem said FAAN had sought to reach agreements with Uber and Bolt, but the companies had not accepted the proposed arrangements, possibly because they already operate under existing government registration and regulatory frameworks. “Also, the taxis at the airport are monitored by FAAN and they have a tradition at the airport,” he said. He cited the conduct of traditional airport taxi operators after dropping passengers at their destinations as one of the practices that, in his view, distinguishes them from e-hailing services. According to Ikem, an airport taxi driver who transports a passenger from the airport to a location such as Victoria Island would ordinarily return to the airport without picking up another passenger along the route. “If airport taxi takes you to your destinations, for example, to Victoria Island, it will drive empty without picking another passenger back to the airport,” he said. He said the arrangement was also intended to provide an established channel for passengers to recover belongings accidentally left in airport taxis. “So, if the person that was taken to Victoria Island forgot anything in the vehicle, whatever he forgot, he will recover and it is a tradition among the operators. People are always forgetting things in airport taxis and they always recover them,” Ikem said. He argued that the principle did not necessarily apply to e-hailing platforms, whose drivers operate within a broader ride-hailing network. “That principle does not resonate with Uber and Bolt. They don’t have that allegiance with FAAN,” he said. The temporary suspension therefore reflects a broader regulatory and operational disagreement over how e-hailing services should function within airport environments, particularly where airport authorities maintain specific requirements for commercial transport operators. FAAN's position is centred on establishing a uniform operating framework for airport taxis, while the e-hailing companies operate under their own platforms, vehicle standards and regulatory arrangements. The outcome of the ongoing discussions is expected to determine whether Uber and Bolt will resume operations at the affected airports and under what conditions. The dispute also highlights the growing challenge facing airport authorities as conventional taxi services increasingly compete with app-based transportation platforms for passengers. While e-hailing services have become increasingly popular among travellers because of their digital booking systems and fare transparency, traditional airport taxi operators maintain that their long-standing presence, financial commitments and compliance with airport-specific requirements should be recognised. For FAAN, however, the immediate priority appears to be ensuring that all commercial transport operators within airport premises operate under standards established by the authority and provide services that meet its requirements for passenger safety, accountability and service delivery.