Where the Nile meets the Skies, The story of Entebbe International Airport.
Located about 6 kilometers southwest of the town of Entebbe, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, approximately 40 kilometers by road south-west of the central business district of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda is Entebbe International airport, the only international airport in the country.
It was founded as a garrison post in 1893 and served as the British administrative center of Uganda until 1958 before its construction during the colonial era by the British colonial authorities in 1928. Operations began on 10th November 1951 with the 3,300-yard runway.
‘Entebbe’ in the local Luganda language means a ‘seat’ and it was probably named that because it was the place where a Baganda chief sat to adjudicate legal cases. The first aircraft to use the new airfield were; RAF Fairey IIIs of the Cairo-Cape flight which landed on the 900 yards (820 m) grass runway on 17 February 1929.
Ugandans first witnessed a civil aviation motorized aircraft in its space in the early 30s when ‘a flying boat’ landed at Port bell, southeast of Kampala on the shores of Lake Victoria to deliver mail for British officials.
The excitement generated by faster transport led to the creation of Directorate of Civil Aviation activities in East Africa. In 1947 Entebbe was identified as the most suitable location for the country’s airport. Entebbe was not only a bastion of the colonial structure in Uganda; it also provides easy navigation across the lake. Air Navigation services were at the time done through rudimentary technology. The airport was commissioned in 1951 with the splendor and presence of the queen of England.
Uganda Airlines, legally Uganda Airlines Corporation, was the flag carrier of Uganda. The airline was established in May 1976, and started operations in 1977. It ceased operations in 2001. Attempts were made by the Government of Uganda to privatize the company, but all potential bidders pulled out, eventually leading to its liquidation in 2001. It was later revived and began flying again in 2019 under the same name, Uganda Airlines. The airline has a fleet consisting of seven aircrafts. It has two Airbus A330S and four CRJ-900S. In addition it has an Airbus A320 on a wet lease from Johannesburg based Global Airways.
Currently, the airline flies to about 20 destinations. These among others include; Nairobi & Mombasa-Kenya, Mogadishu-Somalia, Dar er Salaam-Tanzania, Juba-South Sudan, Bujumbura-Burundi, Kinsahsa –Democratic Republic of Congo, Johannesburg & Cape Town-South Africa, Lusaka, Lagos-Nigeria, Abu Dhabi & Dubai-United Arab Emirates, Mumbai-India and Kigaali-Rwanda.
The airline’s operations are licensed, monitored and regulated by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) administered by the Uganda Ministry of Works and Transport. It is now 33 years since the Authority was established in 1991 under the Civil Aviation Act.
At its establishment in 1991, Entebbe International Airport handled 118,000 passengers and the figure rose 1,980,000 n 2019, but reduced to 565,541 in 2020 due to the COVID -19 pandemic that hit the globe.
In august 2021, the airport recorded 81,968 international passengers (33,941 arrivals, 37,419 departures and 10,608 transit) compared to 61,328 in July 2021, 75,472 passengers in June, 77,063 in May and 85,054 in April.
In relation to cargo, while the airport recorded 6,600 metric tonnes of cargo in 1991, 64,731 metric tonnes of cargo were recorded in 2019 prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and 59,720 metric tonnes of cargo in 2020.
In August 2021, Entebbe recorded 5,154 metric tonnes of cargo compared to 5,725 in April, 5,977 in March, 4,766 in February and 4,911 metric tonnes in January 2021.
Over the years, UCCA has registered a number of milestones.
Look out for my next edition where I will highlight the milestones including updates on the new terminal building project and the new business class facility with all the other developments.
