Rising
Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) says Entebbe International Airport recorded increased passenger numbers, which moved up by 34 percent from 61,328 travelers in July to 81,986 passengers in August.
According to UCAA, The increase is linked to the rising number of migrant workers traveling to the Middle East and the easing of travel restrictions led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Uganda recently lifted the ban on flights from India while UAE lifted the ban on flights from Uganda in mid-August for resident permit holders.
Vianney Luggya, the UCAA spokesman says of the 81,968 passengers who passed through Entebbe Airport in August, majority were departing or in transit. He says 37,415 people departed, 10,608 were in transit and the remaining 33,941 were arrivals.
Entebbe Airport resumed commercial flight operations last October. Since then, the passenger numbers have been fluctuating from month to month due to easing or imposition of global travel restrictions.
UCAA says its figures shows that passenger numbers grew from 42,633 in October 2020 to over 50,000 in the first four months of 2021. In October, 23,867 of the passengers were arrivals, 15,461 were departing and 3,305 were in transit.
However, the passenger numbers spiked from 53,494 in January, rising to 76,233 in March, and 85,054 in April.
The April figures excited the sector players since they surpassed those for February. However, the excitement dropped in May until July because Uganda detected the Delta variant and instituted extra measures such as banning flights from India and re-testing travelers from nine other countries including Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and South Sudan.
Uganda also instituted a nationwide lockdown in June. However, the airport remained open. But passenger numbers dropped because UAE, UK, and Canada banned flights from Uganda in June while airlines such as RwandAir suspended flights due to the surging number of COVID-19 cases in Uganda.
The passenger numbers as a result of the measures dropped in May from 77,063 travelers to 75,472 passengers in June. The airport however recorded the lowest number of travelers in July, with 61,328 passengers.
The daily average of passengers thereby reduced to 1,978 compared to 5,412 passengers before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Uganda.
Though Uganda is still on the UK red list, with the easing of travel restrictions elsewhere, the passenger numbers have increased over the last four weeks.