Entebbe Airport set a new record in December 2023 with 198,961 international passengers, comprising 104,160 arrivals and 94,800 departures. This figure, averaging 6,418 passengers per day, represents the highest single-day record in Uganda, according to Vianney Mpungu Luggya, the Spokesperson of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).
The significant increase is attributed to factors such as business travel, the festive season, and tourism. Comparatively, 2023 saw a total of 1,932,000 passengers, surpassing the pre-COVID-19 pandemic total of 1.8 million recorded in 2019.
Luggya anticipates similarly high figures for January 2024 due to the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Group 77 (G77) plus the China Summit, which is expected to attract a large number of international delegates.
The NAM summit, officially commencing at the Commonwealth Speke Resort Munyonyo, hosts delegates from 120 countries across Africa, Europe, America, the Caribbean, Asia, and the Pacific, alongside 18 observer states and 10 observer organizations. Uganda aims to host between 1,000 and 1,500 delegates during the event from January 15 to 23, 2023.
In September 2023, Uganda’s aviation industry demonstrated substantial improvement, surpassing global and regional averages following a significant safety audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Uganda received a commendable 72.17 percent in the assessment audit, highlighting the country’s commitment to aviation safety.
Entebbe International Airport also recorded a total cargo of 59,000 metric tons during the same period. In 2023, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that African airlines moved 960 thousand tons of freight, representing 96.7 percent of the 2019 figures.
As per IATA’s report, global airlines carried 3.4 billion passengers in 2022 compared to 2.2 billion in 2021. African airlines carried 67 million passengers in 2022, reflecting a 55.8 percent growth but accounting for only 2 percent of global traffic.
Source: URN
