Entebbe international airport

Uganda only has one international airport, Entebbe International Airport (IATA: EBB, ICAO: HUEN). Located on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, it is roughly 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) southwest of Entebbe.

The Entebbe-Kampala Expressway and Tunnel Road, which run through the airport, now serve as the location of the new headquarters for the Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda, which is located just across from the airport terminals.

The Airport's Past

During their colonial rule, the British opened up this airport. With new, larger facilities, the airport reopened to the public on November 10, 1951. For the convenience of the de Havilland Comet, Runway 12/30 has been extended to a length of 9,900 feet (3,000 m). Energoprojekt Holding planned and constructed the airport's new main terminal building by Yugoslav-Montenegrin architect Aleksandar Kekovi in 1972–1973.

Ugandan armed forces operate out of the decommissioned Entebbe airport. In 1976, when an Air France Flight 139 layover in Athens, Greece, en route from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by Arabs and Germans, the Israeli special forces unit Sayeret Matkal rescued the passengers in an operation they codenamed "Operation Entebbe." The old terminal where the rescue happened has been torn down, except for the control tower and airport hall. A report from 2006 said that the old airport site was supposed to be where a domestic terminal would be built. [9] When Tanzanian forces took over the airport in April 1979 during the Uganda-Tanzania War, they partially destroyed it in the process.

ThePrint reported in November 2021 that despite denials from China's foreign ministry and the Government of Uganda, rumours in African media suggested that China would take over the airport due to a defaulted loan. According to a report from an independent Ugandan daily newspaper cited by Bloomberg News, the Ugandan government is attempting to alter a $200 million loan arrangement it signed with the Export-Import Bank of China in 2015 to ensure that it does not lose control of the airport. The Attorney General of Uganda confirmed on December 1, 2021 that they had read the article about the airport in the media and that it was allegedly fake news.

Preparations for Progress: Modernization Programs 2015–2033

The Airport Modernization Project received a grant of USh 27 billion from the Government of South Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency in February 2015 to help fund airport improvements by the Government of Uganda (GOU). That same month, the GOU launched a three-year, $1.5 billion plan to modernise and expand the airport. The total cost of the makeover is estimated to be around $586 million.

Facilities

There is a left luggage office, banks, ATMs, a foreign exchange bureau, eateries, and duty-free stores for passengers.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Notes:

1. When flying from Brussels to Entebbe with Brussels Airlines, you'll have a layover at either Kigali or Bujumbura. The airline, however, does not have exclusive permission to fly passengers between Kigali and Bujumbura or Entebbe.
2. The majority of KLM's flights from Amsterdam to Entebbe do not make a stop at Kigali, however there are some that do. The airline does not, however, have exclusive rights to operate between Kigali and Entebbe.
3. Inbound flights on Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Entebbe stop at Kigali. The airline does not, however, have exclusive rights to operate between Kigali and Entebbe.

Airlines offering specialised passenger service to non-stop destinations

Cargo

Incidents that have occurred at the airport

• In 1976, Israeli commandos rescued the captives of Air France Flight 139, which had been hijacked on its way from Tel Aviv to Paris via Athens (where the hijackers boarded).
• All 11 people aboard the Aerolift Ilyushin Il-76 S9-SAB were killed when the plane plunged into Lake Victoria shortly after taking off from Entebbe airport on March 9, 2009. On takeoff, two of the engines exploded.

Airport Address

CAA Contact Information:

Head Office Building

 Entebbe International Airport. P.O. Box 5536, Kampala

Tel: 0800388700 – Toll Free

+256 312/414 352000

 [email protected]

 +256 414 320571, 320964, 321401