Aviation & Infrastructure Desk
WHEN THE TILLS WENT SILENT
It started quietly on September 29, 2025 — no fanfare, just digital hum.
Passengers driving through Abuja airport’s access gates noticed something new: the attendants held scanners, not cash boxes. FAAN’s Managing Director, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, called it “a complete culture change.”
“We’re shutting down the era of leakages,” she said. “By Q1 next year, no FAAN gate, lounge, or car park will touch cash again.”
The plan will cascade from Abuja and Lagos to every FAAN-run terminal nationwide, replacing physical cash with cards, QR codes, and digital passes.
⚡️ THE SHIFT THAT REWIRES TRUST
The reform isn’t just about speed; it’s about credibility.
For decades, airport revenue collection ran on opaque systems vulnerable to manipulation. FAAN estimates over ₦2 billion leaked yearly through manual ticketing.
The cashless pivot, backed by the Ministry of Aviation and the CBN, promises real-time monitoring and automatic reconciliation across terminals.
Kuku explained that during the pilot phase, FAAN’s revenue jumped by 50 percent, and the authority projects a 100 percent rise when the system fully activates.
“Three hundred thousand motorists use Abuja and Lagos gates monthly,” she said. “When every payment is digital, the numbers tell their own story.”
⚡ HOW IT HITS THE TARMAC
- Check-in queues move faster as payments go contactless.
- Revenue dashboards update in real time at FAAN HQ.
- Passengers no longer carry wads of cash for parking or lounges.
- Security improves as physical cash handling disappears.
⚙️ THE RIPPLE BEYOND AVIATION
The move syncs perfectly with Nigeria’s wider digital-governance drive.
By pushing airports cashless, FAAN becomes the template for other revenue-collecting MDAs. Economists say the reform could inspire toll gates, seaports, and motor-park unions to follow suit, bringing Nigeria closer to a unified digital-payment culture.
But there’s an undercurrent of anxiety: unions fear job losses among ticket clerks and manual collectors. Aviation analyst Chike Amodu warns that success will depend on “digital empathy.”
“You can automate the system,” he told IDNN, “but you must retrain the people who ran the old one.”
WHO’S REALLY WINNING FROM THE SWITCH
For FAAN, the benefits are immediate and measurable: higher revenue, cleaner books, and international credibility.
The private concessionaires managing lounges and car parks now see data transparency that once took weeks to reconcile.
Airlines stand to gain from smoother passenger throughput, while payment service providers like Remita, Interswitch, and Paystack are quietly competing for backend dominance of Nigeria’s aviation gateways.
For travellers, convenience is the visible win — no more scrambling for change or bribes at barriers.
And for government, it’s political capital: a reform that proves digitalisation can deliver integrity without slogans.
This is IDNN. Independent. Digital. Uncompromising.
