Entebbe airport passenger flights remain suspended

Passengers who desire to use Entebbe International Airport to travel to different destinations will have to wait a little longer as such flights remain grounded.

There has been an outcry since March 23rd when the President announced a ban on passenger flights to and from Uganda’s gateway, Entebbe International Airport. The closure was part of the measures put in place by government to prevent the spread of Covid 19

Many Ugandans supposed to go and work abroad were all locked within the country; neither would they use airports from nearby countries such as Jomo Kenyatta International Airport since countries had closed operations of passenger air crafts.

Currently, the only categories of authorized operations, include cargo flights, evacuation flights for foreign nationals leaving Uganda for their home destinations, repatriation flights for Ugandans returning from abroad to their home country and any other clearances under the emergency category. 

A source at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority says, the procedure for clearance of evacuation flights entails foreign embassies liaising with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which coordinates with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Works and Transport.

Such flights mostly include those seeking emergency medical treatment abroad.

A source at Entebbe International Airport told Entebbe Post on Monday evening that air crafts that bring back repatriated Ugandans have sometimes been used by the passengers if cleared to move.

“If the air crafts are going to the same destination that you are supposed to be, and you are cleared, why not?” The source indicated.

Entebbe Post has learnt that more than 20 passengers have been departing from Entebbe international airport through such arrangement with the latest being Fahad Bayo, a footballer who traveled to Israel last week.

Similarly, repatriation flights for Ugandans returning from abroad are coordinated by the Ugandan embassies in the countries where the returning Ugandans are situated. The embassies liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for clearance of the repatriation flights and Uganda Civil Aviation Authority facilitates the cleared flights.

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