Hoima, Uganda | URN | The contractor of Kabalega International Airport in Hoima District says the facility will be handed over to the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) by the end of October, with works now 98 percent complete. The project contractor, a joint venture of Israeli-British firms Shikun & Binui International (SBI) and Colas Limited, says only the installation of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower remains before the airport is ready for commissioning.
Amos Muriisa, the Public Relations Officer at SBC Uganda Limited, told Uganda Radio Network (URN) that major components of the airport have already been completed and that work on the control tower is now underway. According to Muriisa, delays in procuring the Air Traffic Control tower were the main reason the project missed earlier completion deadlines.
“The Air Traffic Control Tower delayed the project, but it is already on site, and we are working on it. This is the only remaining component required to make the airport operational. We hope that by October 31, we shall hand over the airport to the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA),” Muriisa said.
He said the control tower is expected to be fully installed by the end of August, expressing confidence that the October handover deadline will be met without further extensions.
Muriisa attributed earlier delays to several factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced construction activities to stop for several months, as well as delayed government funding, particularly in 2023.
He said construction has been completed on most of the airport’s key infrastructure, including the 3.5-kilometre-long, 45-metre-wide runway, the cargo terminal, the passenger terminal, the air rescue and firefighting station, taxiways, airfield lighting system, communications and navigation systems, power substation, perimeter fence and other supporting facilities.
Construction of Kabalega International Airport began in 2018 and was initially scheduled for completion within three years. However, the project has experienced several delays. The airport is expected to play a key role in supporting Uganda’s commercial oil production in the Albertine Graben by facilitating the movement of personnel, equipment, and cargo. Financed by Standard Chartered Bank at a cost of USD 309 million, Kabalega International Airport will have the capacity to accommodate four cargo aircraft simultaneously.
In February 2023, the contractor suspended construction after citing a funding shortfall. The suspension followed the government’s failure to release an additional Shs126 billion required to complete the remaining works, despite repeated requests by the contractor for additional financing. At the time, the contractor said it could not continue construction without the necessary resources.
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