Aviation posts growth in passenger numbers
The Entebbe Airport terminal building. Photo by Martin Ssebuyira.
What you need to know:
Current figures are projected to have surpassed the 2018 targets.
Growth in tourist arrivals in the country partly led to a 14 per cent increase in passenger traffic at Entebbe Airport.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) records show that the current figures are projected to have surpassed the 2018 target figures as forecasted in the CAA development master plan.
CAA public relations officer Vianney Luggya says the CAA master plan had projected the passenger growth at 1.8 million by 2018 but the current passenger growth shows that passengers would have exceeded 1.8m.
“In 2012 foreign passenger figures were 1.2 million with a 14 per cent growth, meaning passengers will be more than 1.8 million by 2018,” Mr Luggya said.
He said the passenger increment is partly attributed to intense tourism promotion and the marketing of Entebbe Airport.
He added other factors could be attributed to more international conferences and better investment atmosphere in the country as more people search for business opportunities.
CAA recently released preliminary passenger statistics of up to May, showing more passengers are using the Airport than 2012 which implies more revenue to the country.
The results show Uganda received 107,729 passengers in January 2012 that has since grown to 113,297 in January 2013 and 89,415 passengers in February 2012 that has now grown to 97,711 in February 2013.
Uganda received 97,203 passengers in March 2012 that has since grown to 103,708 in March 2013 and has kept on growing from 95,838 in April 2012 to 100,882 in April 2013.
The results also showed 93,189 passengers in May 2012 that have since shot up to 109,479 in May 2013.
The country had 46,426 arrival planes in April 212 and this has risen to 49,784 in April 2013 and 48,253 in May 2012 that shot up to 55,922 in May 2013.
According to CAA, the country had 49,412 planes that departed from Uganda in April 2012 that rose to 51098 in April 2013 and 44936 planes in April 2012 that rose to 53556 planes in May 2013.
Mr Luggya says the peak season usually starts in June till the end of the year.
International Arrivals
Year Passengers
2009 72,738
2010 82,405
2011 83,379
2012 93,189
2013 109,478
