The International Air Transport Association (IATA) successfully held the annual IATA Day Celebrations for the first time in Uganda on 9th November, 2017 at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
The event that attracted a number of stakeholders in the aviation industry was presided over by the Minister of State for Transport, Hon. Aggrey Bagiire, who emphasized the importance of aviation to social and economic development of countries in his keynote address.
The Minister commended IATA for introducing a number of crucial concepts to air travel such as electronic ticketing and bar coded boarding pass systems, which have enhanced passenger facilitation.
“Government is reviving the national airline, upgrading Entebbe International Airport, constructing Kabaale International Airport in the Albertine region, reviewing the aviation legal framework and encouraging more domestic and international airlines to start operations,” the Minister said.
Speaking at the event, the Authority’s Managing Director, Dr. David Kakuba, thanked IATA for considering Uganda CAA as worthy hosting partners, “which is a vote of confidence in Uganda’s air transport system.”
“Holding of such a high profile event in Uganda is testimony of the cordial and mutually beneficial relations that exist between IATA and the aviation industry authorities in Uganda,” he said.
Dr. Kakuba added that air transport makes a significant contribution to the national economy and CAA considered any efforts aimed at improving the sector seriously.
“One of the strategies to ensure continuous improvement has been stakeholder engagements of this nature to ensure that we get the views and concerns of industry players so as to address them for an efficient, safe and a secure operating environment,” he stated.
Panelists from various sectors including tourism, financial institutions, aviation and the media participated in an interactive panel discussion under the theme “The importance of aviation to Socio-Economic Development of Uganda”.
IATA is the global trade association that represents over 270 member airlines. It is a prestigious association, which addresses various interests of airlines the world over. Every year the Association’s members carry over 83% of the worlds’ scheduled international traffic.