Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Entebbe International Airport

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Airport type
  
Public / Military

Hub for
  
Code
  
EBB

Phone
  
+256 41 4352000

Passenger count
  
1,355,288

Location
  
Elevation AMSL
  
3,782 ft / 1,153 m

Elevation
  
1,153 m

Yearly aircraft movements
  
26,886

Entebbe International Airport

Operator
  
Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda

Serves
  
Entebbe, Kampala, Mukono

Address
  
5536 Kampala Road, Entebbe, Uganda

Airbus a340 300 landing at entebbe international airport fsx


Entebbe International Airport (IATA: EBB, ICAO: HUEN) is the principal international airport of Uganda. It is near the town of Entebbe, on the shores of Lake Victoria, and about 41 kilometres (25 mi) by road south-west of the central business district of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. The coordinates of the airport are 00°02'41"N, 032°26'35"E (Latitude: 0.044721; 32.443055). The headquarters of the Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda have been relocated to a new block off the airport highway.

Contents

Kenya airways e 190 take off from entebbe international airport uganda


History

On 10 November 1951, the airport was formally reopened after its facilities had been extended. Runway 12/30 was now 3,300 yards (3,000 m), in preparation for services by the de Havilland Comet.

On 7 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II took her flight back to London via El Adem, Libya after being proclaimed queen after the death of King George VI.

The Old Entebbe airport is now used by Uganda's military forces. It was the scene of a hostage rescue operation by Israeli Sayeret Matkal, dubbed Operation Entebbe, in 1976 after an Arab-German hijacking of Air France Flight 139 following a stopover in Athens, Greece en route to Paris from Tel Aviv. The scene of that rescue was the old terminal, which has been demolished except for its control tower and airport hall. According to a 2006 published report, plans were made to construct a domestic passenger terminal at the site of the old airport.

Modernization plans: 2015-2033

In February 2015, the government of South Korea, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency, gave the government of Uganda (GOU) a grant of UGX:27 billion towards modernization of the airport. In the same month, the GOU began a three phase upgrade and expansion of the airport to last from 2015 until 2035. The entire renovation budget is approximately US$586 million.

Phase I - 2015 to 2018

  • Estimated cost of US$200 million, borrowed from Exim Bank of China.
  • Relocation and expansion of the cargo terminal.
  • Construction of new passenger terminal building.
  • Modernizing and improving existing passenger terminal building.
  • Phase II - 2019 to 2023

  • Estimated cost of US$125 million, not yet sourced.
  • Relocation and expansion of fuel storage facilities.
  • Phase III - 2024 to 2033

  • Estimated cost of US$160.5 million, not yet sourced.
  • Building new multi-story car park.
  • Construction of new control tower
  • Strengthen and reseal current runways.
  • Expansion of departure and arrival lounges

    In April 2016, Minister of Works John Byabagambi launched a UGX:42.6 billion project to expand the departure and arrival lounges. The work will be carried out by Seyani Brothers Limited and will be fully funded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda. Construction is scheduled to commence on 1 June 2016 with completion expected in December 2017. This work is separate from the large expansion partially funded by the government of South Korea.

    Passenger traffic

    Since 2002, international passenger traffic at the airport has increased annually, except for 2009 when the Great Recession caused a small decline and 2014.

    Facilities

    Passenger facilities include a left-luggage office, banks, automated teller machines, foreign exchange bureaux, restaurants, and duty-free shops.

    Passenger

    Notes:

    2: In addition to nonstop flights, some of KLM's inbound flights from Amsterdam to Entebbe make a stop in Kigali. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Kigali and Entebbe.

    3: Turkish Airlines' inbound flights from Istanbul to Entebbe make a stop in Kigali. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Kigali and Entebbe.

    Airlines offering specialized passenger service to non-stop destinations

    Ground handling

    As of February 2014, there were two ground-handling companies serving this airport:

  • Entebbe Handling Services, the largest of the three.
  • DAS Handling Limited (Dairo Air Services Handling Limited) has acquired ACC3/RA3 European Union ground handling certification.
  • Incidents

  • In 1976, Air France Flight 139 from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked and taken to Entebbe, and Israeli commandos rescued the hostages in Operation Entebbe.
  • On 9 March 2009, Aerolift Ilyushin Il-76 S9-SAB crashed into Lake Victoria just after takeoff from Entebbe airport, killing all 11 people on board. Two of the engines had caught fire on take-off. The aircraft had been chartered by Dynacorp on behalf of the African Union Mission to Somalia. The accident was investigated by Uganda's Ministry of Transport, which concluded that all four engines were time-expired and that Aerolift's claim that maintenance had been performed to extend their service life or that the work had been certified could not be substantiated.
  • References

    Entebbe International Airport Wikipedia