MMA2's car park operator, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, has defended the recent increase in parking tariffs at Murtala Muhammed Airport's Terminal 2 in Lagos. The rise, effective immediately, sees saloon cars charged N3,500 for the first hour, up from N2,500, with subsequent hours at N2,500. SUVs now pay N4,000 for the first hour, up from N3,500, while buses are charged N20,000. Overnight parking costs N50,000, and lost tickets attract a N25,000 fee.
The explanation comes via a statement from the company's Head of Corporate Communications, Mrs Ajoke Yinka-Olawuyi, issued Monday in Lagos. She cited severe congestion and misuse of the multi-storey car park as key reasons for the revision. Vehicles parked for days, months, or even years have reduced available spaces, making it difficult for passengers to find parking. Some passengers reportedly spend over 30 minutes searching for spots, leading to missed flights.
Yinka-Olawuyi stated the changes are not revenue-driven but an operational necessity. The goal is to discourage long-term parking, improve vehicle turnover, and ease congestion at drop-off and pick-up zones. Bi-Courtney Aviation Services also highlighted its safety and security record at MMA2, attributing it to strict access control and facility monitoring.
Mrs Ajoke Yinka-Olawuyi's explanation places Bi-Courtney Aviation Services in the rare position of justifying user fees not as a profit move but as a response to systemic misuse — a narrative that shifts blame from operator to user while sidestepping deeper infrastructure failures. The fact that vehicles remain parked for months or years in a busy airport terminal suggests not just abuse, but a glaring lack of enforcement and planning long before tariffs were revised.
The real story isn't the price hike but the years of neglect that allowed a parking facility meant for short-term use to become a de facto long-term storage site. If safety and efficiency are priorities, as claimed, then the prolonged tolerance of such misuse undermines the operator's credibility. The congestion affecting drop-off zones and passenger movement points to a facility operating beyond its design capacity, with pricing now used as a corrective tool instead of proper regulation.
Ordinary passengers, especially those without valet or curbside drop options, bear the brunt — paying more due to a problem they didn't create. Daily commuters and low-income travellers will feel the pinch most, as N3,500 for one hour becomes a recurring cost rather than an occasional expense.
This reflects a wider pattern in Nigerian urban infrastructure: reactive pricing over proactive management. When systems are allowed to decay or be misused, the eventual fix almost always comes in the form of higher user fees, not systemic reform.
