Uganda has clarified that operations at the country’s Entebbe International Airport were not affected by a fire outbreak near the facility on the evening of September 12.
Jude Luggya, the spokesperson of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), said the fire outbreak at a private facility did not affect flights at the airport.
“The fire that broke out in a private building owned by DAS Handling has not impacted operations at Entebbe International Airport in any way,” he said.
“This is because the building is located outside of the airport perimeter fence. Nevertheless firefighters did everything possible to ensure that the fire is contained and restricted to that particular area so that it does not spread to nearby structures including the DAS head office which is in close proximity with the affected building among others,” the officer added.
Luggya said the facilities used by DAS and any other handling agents to store items that have come into the country by air are in a different location at the new cargo centre which is totally in a different location from the building affected by fire.
“So, anyone expecting consignments from abroad or planning to export produce should not worry. Similarly, passenger operations are on-going smoothly and the situation is under control,” he said.
According to him, the new cargo centre accommodates 100,000 metric tonnes of cargo per year compared to the old one which had a capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes per year.
Traffic grows at Entebbe
Just last month, the airport recorded the highest monthly traffic since the establishment of the country’s civil aviation authority in 1991.
“Entebbe International Airport recorded 185,253 international passengers in July 2023 (93,727 arrivals and 91,526 departures), which is an average of 5,975 passengers per day, the highest passenger traffic ever recorded in any given month,” Luggya said.
“The July 2023 traffic reflects an additional 24,338 passengers compared to those recorded in the previous month of June 2023, which had a total of 160,915,” he added.
