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A group of 250 tourists from Israel jetted into the country on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 and commenced their tour with a visit to the site of the historic July, 4, 1976 raid on Entebbe at the old airport at which one of their own and Commander, Yona Netanyahu lost his life in a bid to rescue hostages.

The tourists were also scheduled to visit enviro conserve and wild life reserves across the country.

The group was received at the Entebbe International Airport’s VVIP terminal by the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), Mr. Stephen Asiimwe and officials from Civil Aviation Authority.

The tourists led by Ms Tali Yativ, the Chief Executive Officer of Spirit World Productions, a Tourism Promotions Company in Israel said that they would also tour areas along River Nile in Jinja and Safari parks.

The team was scheduled to depart the country on Saturday February 16, 2019 aboad EL AR, an Israel airlines.

The tourists’ visit to Uganda will be followed with official commencement of flights in and out of Entebbe International Airport by EL AR Airline later in the year. This comes on the heels of signing of a Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Israel and Uganda in 2018.

According to Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), visitors to Uganda, generate 1.4 billion dollars to the economy. In 2018, Entebbe International Airport handled a total of 1.84 million passengers up from 1.65 million the previous year (2017).

Asiimwe says each visitor to Uganda is considered a tourist because they end up spending money on food, travel, accommodation and other things.

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The Minister of Works and Transport, Hon. Monica A. Ntege (center) with CAA Board, Management and stakeholders at the breakfast engagement.

Hon. St. Alain Ange, the keynote speaker at CAA’s Stakeholders engagement breakfast held at Kampala Serena Hotel on December 6, 2018 emphasized the importance of positive visibility in promoting Uganda’s tourism potential.

Highlighting the need for adoption of a comprehensive tourism strategy, Hon. St. Ange who is Seychelles former Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, applauded Uganda for the steps taken in expanding and upgrading Entebbe International Airport and ensuring the revival of Uganda’s national airline.

“In order to have growth in passenger traffic at Entebbe International Airport, Ministry of Works and Transport together with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) need to work together with the Ministry of Tourism in order to boost tourism in Uganda, which is a major economic backbone to the Airport”, he remarked.

He emphasized that through promoting Uganda’s key assets, the country would become a household name world over making it a key destination in East Africa.

The Guest of Honour, Minister of Works and Transport, Hon. Monica Azuba Ntege revealed that the Aviation week’s theme, “Working together to ensure no country is left behind”, highlighted ICAO’s efforts to assist states in implementing ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). She stressed that the main goal was to help ensure that SARPs implementation is better harmonized globally so that all states have access to the significant socio-economic benefits of safe and reliable air Transport.

“Government is committed to implementation of all efforts aimed at ensuring growth of the aviation industry and revival of the National Airline is one such avenue that government has focused on to ensure further increase in the number of passengers coming in and out of Uganda,” Hon. Ntege stated.

She urged air operators present not to look at the national airline as a competitor, but one that would complement their businesses through bringing in onward traffic that can be shared by existing operators in connecting to other destinations.

She further disclosed that the national airline would open up more domestic routes and help to complete the tourism supply chain by joining other domestic operators in picking up passengers brought in by international air operators and conveniently connecting them to their tourism destinations upcountry.

Speaking on behalf of the CAA Board Chairman, Eng. Mackenzie Ogweng extended appreciation to Hon. St. Ange for an inspiring key not address and noted that the CAA Board was cognizant of the important need for tourism, airports and airlines to closely work together.

“Tourists will need transport (airlines), tourists will need an airport where they can land with the navigation equipment and all the facilities. We are in agreement with the gist of your speech and are working closely with our tourist board”, he affirmed.

CAA’s Managing Director, Dr. David Kakuba confirmed that CAA’s close working relations with tourism authorities in Uganda was manifested in the fact that CAA had a senior manager on the Uganda Tourism Board.

Dr. Kakuba, highlighted a number of achievements the Authority had registered in 2018 some of which included the fact that new Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) were signed with Canada, Israel and Switzerland and as a result EL AR Israel Airlines was expected to commence operations to Entebbe in 2019.

He added that CAA attained the much coveted ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems Standard Certification and became only the third regional aviation body after Kenya and Tanzania to attain such certification. He also highlighted the fact that passenger traffic in and out of Entebbe had risen.

The engagement was interactive with a range of questions from stakeholders that were responded to by the Minister of Works and Transport and Members of the CAA Board and management.

The event was widely broadcast and viewed live on NTV and BBS TV and can still be accessed on the CAA You tube page @https://youtu.be/HKUXU67vNbc

CAA Managing Director, Dr. David Kakuba (fourth left) commissions the machines at Entebbe International Airport. Looking on is Ag. Director Airports and Aviation Security, Eng. Ayub Sooma (centre) , Mrs. Mary Odido and Airport staff.

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)’s commitment towards improving the security and safety of passengers and other users of Entebe International Airport, crew got a boost with the commissioning of four new x–ray machines at the Airport on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.

The new equipment is to enhance efforts to improve on processes and systems that will better facilitate safety and security for airport users.

Commissioning the new X-ray machines, the CAA Managing Director, Dr. David Mpango Kakuba said the equipment which cost Uganda shillings three billion four hundred thousand is deployed at the cargo centre, luggage sorting area, customs and at the VVIP terminal.

“Security management is key to CAA these machines are state-of-the-art and provide us with a new and additional line of safety and security for our passengers, against terrorist threats and the importation or export of contraband and illegal items into and out of Uganda,” said Dr. Kakuba.

Dr. Kakuba said that the Xray machines will beef up and close any security gaps at the airport.

“The efficiency of any airport is measured by the time the passenger spends in the terminal. The equipment is certainly going to enhance efficiency and reduce on the time passengers spend while going through the Airport,” he emphasized.

Dr. Kakuba applauded the contractor M/s Spectra International Limited for timely delivery of equipment that met the prescribed specifications.

The Ag. Director of Airports and Aviation Security, Eng. Ayub Sooma said that the equipment will reduce on the queues at peak time at the arrival area and also facilitate screening of passengers in transit.

He said that the project had been successfully completed with good partnership with the contractor.

The Chief of the Joint Security Operations (CJSO), ACP James Ruhweza said that the equipment was a timely delivery as Uganda prepares for the G77 summit in December, 2019.  Ruhweza cautioned the security agents at the airport not to be complacent and asked the users of the equipment to avoid underutilization of the equipment.

The Manager Aviation Security, Mr. Emmanuel Barungi gave a report of the contract and commended the quality of the equipment as per the report for the factory acceptance tests.

The CEO for M/s Spectra International Limited, Mrs. Maria Odido thanked CAA for the good project supervision and teamwork by the technical team and management. She said that her company will provide adequate training to the users. Odida urged CAA to protect and guard the machines from being damaged to ensure value for money spent.

CAA developed a 20 year National Civil Aviation Master Plan (2014-2033) in line with Uganda’s Vision 2040 to upgrade and expand Entebbe International Airport to meet the growing passenger needs and expectations and the future demands of existing and potential operators.

The Ethiopian Airlines Flight No. ET 338, a Boeing 737-800, which overshot the runway at Entebbe International Airport  on landing at 12.41 am has been removed from the runway end at about 10:15 am and flight operations resumed.

When the incident happened, all the 139 passengers and crew on-board disembarked safely. In line with international practice, Civil Aviation Authority immediately issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) temporarily stopping incoming flights from outside the country until after the aircraft had been safely removed from the runway end.

The incident mainly affected in bound international flights including Turkish Airlines, Kenya Airways, Egypt Air and Rwanda Air, which all had incoming morning flights. It also affected some outbound flights. However, aircraft of other air operators, which were on the ground before the incident were able to depart.

We have closely worked hand in hand with Ethiopian Airlines and other stakeholders at the Airport to ensure that removal of the aircraft is done smoothly.

Inconveniences caused to the users of Entebbe International Airport that may have been affected by the incident are highly regretted.

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Dr. David Kakuba (center), Eng. Ronny Barongo (fourth left) with aviation experts at the workshop at Central Inn, Entebbe.

Uganda is set to implement the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) effective January 1, 2019. Under CORSIA, airline operators will start reporting their annual carbon emissions. This was revealed during a CAA Uganda sensitisation workshop for aviation experts at Central Inn, Entebbe on December 17, 2018.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, CAA Managing Director, Dr. David Kakuba said that activities under CORSIA envisioned Environmental Protection in regard to international aviation as one of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Strategic objectives.

Dr. Kakuba emphasised the timeliness for Uganda to implement CORSIA since it was now mandatory for all states with airline operators conducting international flights to Monitor, Report and Verify (MRV) carbon emissions.

“I would like to encourage participants to focus on the stated objectives, which emphasize information exchange on CORSIA implementation requirement, focus on the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification aspects and ensure that procedures and required actions are well understood,” he said.

Dr. Kakuba expressed optimism that the training would go a long way in building capacity for airline operators to develop Emissions Monitoring Plans and effectively report on their carbon emissions.

“To enable aviation to be an even bigger driver of prosperity across the continent, we must work with governments to improve competitiveness, develop effective infrastructure, modernize the regulatory framework with a focus on global standards, and ensure a well -trained and diverse workforce”, he added.

The CAA Director Safety, Security and Economic Regulation (Designate), Eng. Ronny Barongo said that environmental protection was critical and ICAO had been working on standards related to aircraft noise. He added that, ICAO was gradually expanding to other areas such as local air quality and more recently climate change. He noted that airlines and states also needed to co-operate on programmes for environmental sustainability.

The training was conducted by facilitators from Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, Winstone Gicheru and Mwangi Francis, who are focal point aviation experts on CORSIA.

In Africa, Uganda joins Botswana, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia in signing up to CORSIA.