Entebbe flies to new heights with over 200,000 passengers in August, says UCAA

August had the highest number of international passengers going through Entebbe International Airport, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has said.

“Entebbe International Airport facilitated a total of 212,701 international passengers in August 2024, an average of 6,861 passengers per day, the highest figure recorded in the history of the airport in a single month,” Mr Vianne Luggya, the spokesperson of CAA, posted on the organisation’s X platform on Monday.

When asked what caused the surge in the number of passengers, Mr Luggya said: “A number of factors are responsible for the growth. Enhanced promotion of Uganda's tourism and the addition of new routes, including flights to Bombay, several business people have travelled to China lately, and a number of international conferences have been hosted in the country, among others. July to September is also a peak period.”

According to the figures released, 108,055 passengers were departing and 104,646 were arriving in the country.

The airport also recorded a total of 198,961 passengers (an average of 6,418 per day) in December 2023, and 196,211 passengers (an average of 6,329 per day) in January 2024.

The airport has been recording steady increase in the number of passengers since August last year and has since established several new routes including to India, China, and last week, to Abuja in Nigeria.

There was also a major modification of the airport terminals as well as expansion of the parking provisions last year which could have also had a major impact on the airport’s growth.

“In relation to cargo, Entebbe handled 3,525 metric tonnes of exports and 1,885 metric tonnes of imports, a total of 5,410 metric tonnes in August 2024,” Mr Luggya wrote

This signals heightened economic activity, growth in tourism and trade in the country.