By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
The Director General of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority,Fred Bamwesigye has dismissed reports that Uganda’s International Airport, Entebbe was mortgaged to Chinese Exim Bank
“There is no exposure of Entebbe Airport to the risk of attachment by Exim Bank of China in any way. It is also not true that the Airport was mortgaged because it was never used as a security for the loan,” said Bamwesigye.
“Government cannot give away a national asset like qn international airport. This matter has been clarified before and there is need to re-emphasize that it has not happened, and it is not going to happen.”
He said the $200m loan to upgrade and expand the airport is a preferential loan financed by Exim Bank and is guaranteed by Uganda Sovereign Union ruling out allegations of the airport take over by China. He was addressing the media on the performance of Uganda’s aviation sector as per the September 18, 2023, audit report by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), at Media Centre on Thursday September 28.
According to ICAO preliminary results, Uganda Civil Aviation Authority was ranked the top aviation sector in East Africa with 72.17 percent.
The minister of state for works and transport, Hon. Fred Byamukama said the score was reached at after an assessment of Uganda’s effective implementation of the eight critical elements (CEs) of the state safety oversight system as well as compliance with ICAO Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPS) in the eight audit areas. They include operation, airworthiness, organization, personal licensing and flight navigation services. Others are accident investigations, aerodromes and ground aids.
The minister said Uganda has never registered any serious significant safety concern (SSC) which resulted into its best performance.
He noted a rise in international passenger traffic at Entebbe Airport and performance of imports between January and August, 2023.
“In August, Entebbe recorded 93,560 arriving passengers and 97,947 departing passengers, a total of 191,507 passengers an average of 6,177 per day, the highest figure ever recorded in a single month in the history of the airport,” he explained.
The recovery rate for exports from pre-covid times stands at 92.58 per cent while recovery rate for imports is at 72.5 percent. This indicates that there are more exports than imports through Entebbe Airport and that cargo traffic has not recovered at the same rate as passenger traffic.
New Developments and Appeal
UCAA Director General, Bamwesigye said the authority has completed a new cargo centre at the airport with capacity to handle 100,000 metric tons of cargo per year.
On the other hand, the CAA ED appealed to the media and individual Ugandans to be cautious whenever reporting about Uganda Airlines as false media reports may scare away investors from investing in Uganda.
