Entebbe International Airport recorded 196,211 international passengers in January 2024.

Of these, 99,216 were arriving while 96,995 were departing passengers, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCCA) said on Monday, February 19, 2024.

UCCA communication manager Vianney Luggya said this reflects an average of 6,329 passengers per day, the second highest figure to be recorded in a single month after the 6,418 passengers recorded per day in the previous month of December 2023.

The rise in the January 2024 passenger traffic is partly attributed to Uganda’s hosting of the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G77+ China summits in January 2024. The Airport facilitated a total of 1,918 delegates to the Summits, and this certainly contributed to the traffic.

The 19th Summit of NAM and the 3rd South Summit of the G77+China ran back-to-back at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort Hotel in Kampala from January 15 to 22, where Uganda assumed their leadership for three years and one year, respectively.

NAM is the largest grouping of states worldwide after the United Nations (UN) while the G77+China is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the UN.

In relation to cargo, Entebbe International Airport recorded 1,579 metric tonnes of imports and 3,604 metric tonnes of exports, a total of 5,183 metric tonnes in January 2024.

“The airport facilitated a total of 1,918 delegates to the conferences. CHOGM had slightly over 1500 delegates. In terms of conferences hosted by the country, this is the biggest number so far coming for a specific event. However, in terms of total traffic in a given period, we have handled that capacity. For instance, in December 2023, Entebbe International Airport handled a total of 198,000 passengers, an average of about 6,400 per day,” Luggya explained.

President Yoweri Museveni last week signed the Civil Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2024 into a law.

The objectives of the new law are to ensure the safety of passengers, crew, ground personnel and the general public in all matters related to safeguarding against acts of unlawful interference with civil aviation.
Rationale for a new law.

It brings Uganda’s aviation authority in conformity with the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, which created a specialised agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating international air travel in 1947.

The new law delegates powers to inspectors to have unrestricted access to aircraft, aerodromes and aviation facilities including cargo and records of aviation organisations under the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).

The law enables UCAA to recognise agreements of third-party States who are signatories to Article 83 bis of the Chicago Convention, in relation to the transfer of functions and duties as well as prescribing additional offences.

It will regulate the conduct of persons at airports and persons on board aircraft for the purposes of aviation security and provide protection for airports, persons and property at airports, air navigation installations and facilities located at the airport and off airports.

Uganda shall establish an administrative framework for the collection, use, processing and protection of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for flights to and from Uganda.

The National Information and Technology Authority (NITA) shall be responsible for the independent oversight of PNR data protection.

The authority shall have enforcement powers to ensure compliance with national aviation security policies and requirements including having free and unobstructed access at all times to an airport, an aircraft operating from or within Uganda, aircraft registered in Uganda while operating in other States, wherever they may be, and the premises of an operator or service provider within Uganda, for the purpose of inspecting the security operations or to carry out security inspections, vulnerability assessments, security audits, testing functions and investigation of incidents and non- conformances by the operator or service provider.

The authority shall issue official credentials to the inspectors and other qualified personnel, to facilitate their access to facilities, aircraft and documentation during, audits, inspections, tests, vulnerability assessments, security investigations or enforcement activities.

The authority shall ensure compliance with any orders, circulars, directives, rules and instructions or other specific operating requirements.

Where these Regulations have not adequately addressed specific requirements, the authority may issue relevant orders, circulars, directives, rules and instructions or any other specific operating requirements that are signed by the Director General will have the same effect as these regulations.

According to clause (3), a person shall not misuse or have unauthorised access or make unauthorised disclosure of PNR data or any part of it.
A person who contravenes clause 3 commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding four hundred currency points (sh8m) or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding four years or both.