Entebbe International Airport will be able to manage 3.5 million passengers per year by 2024.
Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) Director General, Mr. Fred Bamwesigye, made the revelation on Thursday while addressing the Parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure. The Committee was on a visit to the Airport.
Entebbe Airport is currently undergoing various developments with huge progress registered so far.
Uganda recently underwent a Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme – Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP-CMA), an on-site audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) from September 6–18, 2023. The international audit was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of Uganda’s safety oversight systems in compliance with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
Besides the main project for upgrade and expansion of EIA, some of the recent developments at Entebbe International Airport include the following, among others; Automation and Modernization of Entebbe International Airport, a USD 9.5 million project implemented in conjunction with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and commissioned in September 2022, leading to; An Airport Operations Data Base (AODB); Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS); Terminal Operations Control Center (TOCC); ATS Message Handling System (AMHS), centered at EIA and distributed to Arua, Gulu, Soroti, Kasese, Kisoro and Mbarara; Flight Information Display Screens (FIDs), CCTV, and various system support components and improvement of ATM Procedures, including optimization of arrival approach and departure and en-route procedures.
While briefing his guests on the progress of the airport expansion, Mr. Bamwesigye said that as part of the re-modification of the current passenger terminal building, the expansion of the departures area was completed and part of it is already in use, awaiting the opening of the major entrance to the building, so that departing passengers are dropped-off by the entrance to the terminal building later this year.
“An arrivals component of the project is also being worked on to create more room and ambience for departing passengers. On completion of all the above infrastructural upgrade projects, terminal building capacity will be enhanced from the current capacity of 2 million passengers a year to at least 3.5 million passengers by July 2024,” Mr. Bamwesigye said.
He added that passenger traffic through Entebbe International Airport has been growing steadily, as the airport recovers from the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the aviation industry.
In September 2023, for instance, Entebbe recorded 80,701 arriving passengers and 90,605 departing passengers, a total of 171,306 passengers, which is an average of 5,710 per day.
The total number of passengers facilitated from January to September 2023 is 1,390,495 compared to 1,170,744 in 2019. In 2022, the total number of passengers was 1,574,405 compared to 1.8 million international passengers in 2019, before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents an 87% level of recovery.
In September 2023, the airport handled 1,617 imports and 3,313 exports, a total of 4,930 metric tons in one month.
“UCAA is currently undertaking a review of the Entebbe International Airport Master Plan, and I am sure that the process will benefit from your expertise,” the DG said.
According to Mr. Bamwesigye, UCAA is scheduled to undergo the ICAO Universal Security Audit Programme – Continuous Monitoring Programme (USAP – CMA) scheduled in January 2024. The objective of the USAP-CMA is to evaluate the effectiveness of Uganda’s security systems in compliance with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
“We shall require all the support from the Committee as we undertake this exercise,” Mr. Bamwesigye said, adding that: Uganda is also scheduled to host the NAM and G77 + China summit in January 2024 and EIA is fully expected to play a leading role.
The DG commended the Parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure for the visit.
Adopted from: Chimp Reports October 26, 2023