Entebbe Airport records 18% traffic growth

WAKISO - Entebbe International Airport recorded an 18% increase in international passenger traffic between January and November 2024 according to Vianney Luggya, the manager public affairs at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).

The eleven-month period saw a total of 2,020,787 passengers go through the airport compared to 1,733,133 during the same period in 2023 according to data from the UCAA.

The rise highlights a recovery in air travel, with this year’s figures also surpassing the 1,417,615 passengers recorded in the first 11 months of 2022.

“The growth in the number of international passengers is due to a number of factors, including tourism, Uganda’s hosting of a number of international events like the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) and G77+ China Summit, in addition to a stable economic environment resulting into increased international trade,” Luggya said in a statement.

“Commercial aircraft movements have increased due to new air operators joining the Ugandan airspace and the opening of new routes by Uganda Airlines to Abuja, Lagos, and Mumbai, among other factors.”

By the close of November, the airport handled 182,932 international passengers, split almost evenly between arrivals (91,867) and departures (91,065), averaging 6,097 passengers daily.

Aircraft movements also grew, up 5.6% year-on-year, with 29,751 flights recorded from January to November 2024, compared to 28,167 in 2023 and 26,511 in 2022.

Cargo volumes at Entebbe Airport rose to 61,393 metric tonnes in the January-November period, a 14.1% increase from the 53,803 metric tonnes recorded in 2023.

Exports accounted for 41,012 metric tonnes, while imports totalled 20,381 metric tonnes.