With 198,961 foreign passengers handled in December 2023, Entebbe Airport achieved a new high. With 104,160 arrivals and 94,800 departures, this milestone was reached with an astounding daily average of 6,418 passengers. According to Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) spokesperson Vianney Mpungu Luggya, this number is the country’s highest record for a single day.
A number of causes, including a spike in business travel, the holiday season, and increased tourism, are responsible for the December passenger surge. Interestingly, the number of passengers in 2023 was 1,932,000, which was more than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic total of 1.8 million in 2019.
According to Luggya, January 2024 will continue to witness high numbers because of two important occasions: the China Summit and the 19th summit of the Group 77 (G77) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It is anticipated that a significant number of foreign delegates will attend these summits, thus elevating Entebbe Airport’s stature.
Beginning at the Commonwealth Speke Resort Munyonyo, the NAM summit will bring together representatives from 120 nations in Africa, Europe, America, the Caribbean, Asia, and the Pacific. Ten observer groups and eighteen observer states will also take part. Between 1,000 and 1,500 attendees are expected to visit Uganda during the event, which takes place from January 15 to 23, 2023.
In September 2023, Uganda’s aviation industry showed notable advancements, outperforming both regional and global standards following an intensive safety audit carried out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The nation’s remarkable performance of 72.17 percent in the assessment audit highlights its steadfast dedication to aviation safety.
Entebbe International Airport handled a significant amount of goods during that time, totaling 59,000 metric tons. African airlines carried 960 thousand tons of freight overall in 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This represents a remarkable 96.7 percent of the 2019 estimates.
In 2022, global airlines carried 3.4 billion passengers, a huge rise from the 2.2 billion in 2021, according to IATA’s thorough research. African airlines had a part in this expansion, carrying 67 million passengers in 2022—a significant increase of 55.8 percent. The fact that African airlines only made up 2% of all air traffic worldwide in spite of this highlights the room for more growth in the continent.
