Passengers, airport workers stranded as cab operators down tool

Passengers and airport workers were on Wednesday, stranded following the down tooling of limousine and car hire operators over the re-routing of the former by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), at the Lagos Airport.

BusinessDay gathered that the car hire operators had complained to FAAN that the limousine operators (users of the Toyota Camry car) regularly “hijack” their passengers, rather than concentrate on regular passengers.

As a result of the complaint, one of the limousine operators alleged that FAAN re-routed the limousine operators (Toyota Camry car) to hajj camp from Ikeja while the Sienna users were re-routed to the international wing of the airport from their usual hajj camp at the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO).

The situation however led to passengers being stranded at various bus stops from Ikeja Under Bridge to the hajj camp and international airport car parks.

For many hours, passengers who intended to catch flights at airport walked many hours from their various destinations as they insisted they would not comply with the re-routing as directed by FAAN.

A source close to the car hire operators said the leadership of Airport Car Hire Association of Nigeria (ACHAN) had protested to FAAN, sought the re-routing of the limousine operators (Toyota Camry) to hajj camp from international airport while the limousine operators were requested to move in different, which was approved by the agency.

However, BusinessDay learnt that the re-routing of the limousine operators did not go down well with them and decided to down tool, which led to the hardship faced by commuters on the route on Wednesday.