CAA losing Shs500m daily from Entebbe airport lockdown

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is losing at least Shs534m daily as a result of the lockdown which led to the closure of Entebbe airport almost for three months now as a pretentive measure to control the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

This was revealed by the CAA deputy Executive Director, Mr Fred Bamwesigye, on Wednesday while appearing before the Parliamentary committee on National Economy to present a statement on the effects of Covid-19 on the aviation industry.

According to Mr Bamwesigye, the airport was initially generating a revenue of Shs16b to Shs17b monthly, but that figure has since dropped drastically to less than a billion due to the lockdown.

“Before April, we were receiving between Shs16b to Shs17b as revenue from all our facilities, but after April, we hardly receive even Shs1b.
Since the lockdown the airport only receives cargo and emergency flights, which Mr Bamwesigye said, may not be a guarantee and the revenue will be reduced even further, should these flights be stopped.

According to Mr Bamwesigye, Uganda’s air traffic has reduced from 136,338 passengers in the month of April 2019 to only 987 (emergency cases) passengers in April 2020.

The number of Aircraft movement has also reduced from 2,469 in April 2019 to 241 in April 2020. Imports and exports have also declined from 2,291 and 3,230 tonnes respectively in April 2019 to 1,893 and 993 tonnes in 2020 respectively.

Mr Bamwesigye told the committee that the suspension of flights at Entebbe Airport has affected duty free shops, restaurants, airport taxi operators, fuel farms and ground handlers among others. He says as a result of the lockdown, CAA which employs 1,360 people has sent 60 percent of them to work from home.

Resumption plan

On resumption, he said they are waiting on the President’s directive, but return to normalcy could take about 18 months depending on the finalization of a cure for Covid-19.

He says CAA has also already received applications from airlines to resume operations and government should look into that. They have called for adequate stimulus to ensure the industry gets back to operations.

However, legislators on the committee asked CAA to revise the Shs150b reportedly needed to reopen the airport.

The authority says that it needs up to Shs150b to cover the recurrent wage bill and sustained operations, enhanced security and modification of the terminal building to meet the standard operations procedures as required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and health ministry. Part of the funding is needed to complete and furnish the concession block, and improvement of regional Airport passenger facilitation.
But MPs accused CAA of taking advantage of the Covid-19 crisis to ask for huge sums of money.

Budiope County MP, Mr Geoffrey Dhamuzungu, said CAA needs only Shs30b of the Shs150b in his analysis. He said that for instance, Shs72b that they are requesting for to cover the wage bill cannot arise because they already had this covered in their annual budgets.

He additionally said that the Shs3.5b required for security and Shs15b for a concession block is not urgent, adding that the most vital items are those related to Covid-19 measures like port health infrastructure and systems and the modification of the terminal to meet social distancing guidelines.

Mr Benard Atiku, the Ayivu County MP said that although CAA has asked for a lot of money, they have not showed how the regional airlines will be equipped.

Mr Elijah Okupa, the Kasilo County MP asked CAA to categorise which item requires a stimulus, and which one can hold on and also reduce the money. He said the major thing now is categorize the funding they are asking for.

“Tell us what you need now not the long term because my understanding of this request is that they are asking for money for the next financial year due to the uncertainty

However, Bamwesigye downplayed statements that they are taking advantage of Covid-19 to make unnecessary requests. He reiterated that the money is needed for the development of the airport in relation to COVID-19 regulations.

“There is practically no revenue, we are not taking advantage of the crisis. We promised that for us to continue operating, we need certain standards of safety and security,” he said.