FAAN clarifies controversial N30,000 Lagos airport taxi fare

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has clarified that the controversial N30,000 taxi fare from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was not newly imposed by the authority or introduced through its Airport Car Hire Rank Management System (ACHRAMS).

FAAN made the clarification in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, on Thursday, following public criticism over the cost of transportation from the airport.

The controversy was triggered by a video shared by travel content creator Chris Joondeph, popularly known as Authentic Travelling, who showed a quoted fare of N30,000 for a journey from the Lagos airport to the Radisson Hotel in Ikeja.

Checks by PUNCH Online showed that the same journey was listed at N6,900 on another e-hailing platform, while Uber quoted N4,200 for its UberX service and N5,800 for the Priority option.

Reacting to the development, FAAN said the airport taxi fares currently generating controversy predated ACHRAMS and were not substantially different from rates previously applicable.

“It is also important to clarify that the fares highlighted in some of the recent public discussions were not rates newly imposed by FAAN or created by ACHRAMS,” the authority said.

According to FAAN, ACHRAMS was introduced to improve the management, monitoring and visibility of authorised airport car-hire operators and was not created to determine or impose taxi fares.

“What ACHRAMS introduced was greater visibility and transparency around the prevailing airport-taxi rates, making the cost more readily apparent to passengers,” it added.

The authority acknowledged that the disparity between airport taxi fares and cheaper e-hailing services had raised concerns among passengers.

“FAAN recognises, however, that the comparison with the lower fares passengers had become accustomed to through e-hailing platforms understandably heightened public concern,” it stated.

FAAN also announced that it had resolved its operational issues with Bolt, allowing the e-hailing company to resume services at airports managed by the authority.

The agency said its efforts to regulate commercial transportation at airports were driven by longstanding concerns, including passenger solicitation, touting, random pick-ups, unregulated operations and associated safety, security and accountability challenges.

FAAN stressed that it remained committed to promoting competition in airport transportation and had no plans to create a monopoly.

“FAAN supports healthy competition and does not seek to create or promote a monopoly in airport transportation,” the authority said.