The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has cleared ride-hailing company Bolt to resume operations at airports managed by the authority.

FAAN disclosed this on Thursday following discussions with Bolt aimed at resolving regulatory, safety and security concerns surrounding ride-hailing services at airports.

In a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, the authority said it had reached an operational agreement with Bolt.

FAAN said the agreement provided a framework under which Bolt could operate while meeting the required safety, security and accountability standards within airport premises.

The authority said Bolt was cleared to commence services immediately, ending the temporary disruption that had affected passengers who relied on the platform for airport transportation.

The development followed FAAN’s recent introduction of tighter controls on commercial transport operations at airports.

The authority had cited concerns including passenger solicitation, touting, unregulated operations, random pick-ups and difficulties in identifying and monitoring vehicles operating within airport premises.

FAAN also introduced its Airport Car Hire Rank Management System, ACHRAMS, to improve the organisation and monitoring of authorised airport transport services.

The authority clarified that ACHRAMS was not an e-hailing application and was not designed to compete with Bolt, Uber or other mobility platforms.

FAAN said it supported healthy competition and had no intention of creating a monopoly in airport transportation.

The temporary disruption had also generated public concerns over airport transport fares, particularly after passengers compared conventional airport taxi rates with cheaper fares offered by e-hailing platforms.

FAAN subsequently denied that ACHRAMS introduced or fixed new airport taxi fares, saying the platform merely made existing airport taxi rates more visible to passengers.

The authority acknowledged that the visibility of the airport taxi rates alongside lower e-hailing fares had heightened concerns among travellers over transportation costs.

FAAN said it was also engaging other e-hailing operators and expected the remaining discussions to be concluded soon.

It assured passengers that they would remain free to choose among authorised transport providers while the authority continued to enforce safety, security and accountability requirements.

The resumption of Bolt services is expected to restore a cheaper and more convenient transport option for travellers using FAAN-managed airports.