Entebbe International Airport recorded an average of 4,802 passengers per day in the month of September, data from the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) shows.
According to UCAA, Entebbe Airport facilitated 63,997 arrivals and 80,112 departures, a total of 144,089 international passengers in September 2022, which is an average of 4,802 passengers per day.
This was a slight decline from the international passenger average of 5,034 per day in August. July registered 4,892, 4,508 in June, 4,018 in May and 3,670 per day in April.
But according to UCAA, the decline is in tandem with the travel trends for previous years.
“The September 2022 traffic figures are also in tandem with the travel trends for previous years, which have seen slightly more passengers recorded in July and August. The figures usually peak again with heightened tourists movements during the winter, especially from November to February,” UCAA said in a statement issued at the weekend.
In relation to cargo, imports were 1,620 metric tonnes and exports were 3,211 metric tonnes in September 2022.
Mr. Fred Bamwesigye, the Director General of the UCAA told reporters recently that the on-going expansion works of Entebbe Airport will lead to an increase of passenger traffic to 3.5 million annually from the current 1.8 million.
“We are looking at having up to 3.5 million using the airport by next year,” he said, Bamwesigye noting that, the on-going airport expansion works include erection of a new cargo centre with storage capacity of 100,000 tonnes, way higher than 59,000 tonnes of the former centre, an apron, an upgrade on the runway 12/30 among others.
Expansion on the airport according to Robert Ssebalamu, a tourism operator in Entebbe municipality will see more tourists flying into the country which would boost the tourism industry further.
