The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it will make a Truck Call-Up System fully operational at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, within 18 months, as part of sweeping reforms tied to its recently reviewed cargo tariff.
FAAN disclosed this in an interview with Nairametrics, explaining how revenue from the new cargo charges will be reinvested to modernise cargo operations, reduce congestion, and improve efficiency at Nigeria’s busiest airport.
The Truck Call-Up System, alongside a Cargo Community System (CCS), forms the backbone of FAAN’s planned digital overhaul of cargo handling in Lagos. Both projects are being funded through the revised cargo tariff, which increased to ₦20 per kilogram from ₦7 per kilogram about a week ago.
According to FAAN, the systems are designed to eliminate operational bottlenecks, improve truck turnaround times, and bring predictability to cargo movements.
FAAN described the Truck Call-Up System as central to its strategy to streamline cargo logistics and decongest the airport environment.
“The Cargo Community System (CCS) and Truck Call-Up System will be fully operational at Murtala Muhammed International Airport within 18 months of tariff implementation, with a publicly shared, quarter-by-quarter milestone chart,” the authority said.
FAAN added that the CCS pilot will go live within 12 months, while the Truck Call-Up System is expected to become operational in Lagos within nine months.
Operators, the authority said, should begin to see tangible improvements within six to 12 months, including at least a 30 per cent reduction in average truck turnaround time, with even greater efficiency gains projected over a three-year period.
To ensure transparency and accountability, FAAN said governance and performance monitoring will be embedded into the implementation process from the outset.
The authority plans to establish a Cargo Tariff Oversight Committee, comprising representatives of key industry stakeholders. It will also issue bi-annual progress reports tracking performance indicators such as:
- Cargo dwell time of 48 hours for exports and 72 hours for imports
- A two-hour truck turnaround time
- 99 per cent system uptime for both the CCS and Truck Call-Up System
FAAN warned that vendors who fail to meet agreed milestones will face contractual penalties, while stakeholders may request tariff freezes or rebates if performance targets are not met.
Lagos will serve as the primary pilot location, with Abuja designated as a secondary test site, ahead of a nationwide rollout following a successful 12-month pilot validated by key performance indicators and stakeholder feedback.
FAAN increased cargo handling charges to ₦20 per kilogram on January 30, marking the first tariff review since 2008.
The authority said the decision was driven by rising operating costs, inflation, currency depreciation, and the urgent need to upgrade ageing cargo infrastructure. FAAN noted that cumulative inflation of about 287 per cent, combined with the naira’s depreciation from roughly ₦118 to the dollar in 2008 to about ₦1,500 today, had severely eroded the value of the old ₦7 tariff.
According to FAAN, the new rate remains below an inflation-adjusted benchmark and applies only to shared airport infrastructure, not private concessionaire fees.
Currently, trucks at MMIA often queue for long periods while awaiting assignments, with many vehicles unregistered or poorly tracked. This has contributed to congestion, security risks, and weak traceability across cargo terminals.
A functional Truck Call-Up System is expected to regulate access, reduce idle parking, and improve security and traffic flow. Combined with the CCS, it could enhance coordination among operators, regulators, and service providers, shorten cargo dwell times, and free up limited terminal space.
FAAN believes reinvesting tariff proceeds into digital infrastructure will ultimately deliver faster handling times and more predictable logistics flows for cargo operators.
The revised tariff has drawn mixed reactions. While some operators see the increase as necessary to fund long-overdue upgrades, others have raised concerns about implementation challenges and existing inefficiencies.
The temporary closure of the MMIA import warehouse following the tariff hike heightened industry concerns, with some operators warning that abrupt changes exposed shipments billed at old rates to potential losses.
Stakeholders say that if systems like the Truck Call-Up and CCS are successfully deployed, they could significantly improve congestion, space management, and traceability. However, they caution that lasting progress will require sustained digitisation, stronger inter-agency coordination, and continued investment beyond tariff adjustments.
