It is now more than five months since Entebbe Airport was closed to passenger flights, save for those repatriating stranded people in and out of Uganda. The closure of Entebbe International Airport was to control the spread of COVID-19 as per president Museveni’s directive.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The hope for traveling in Uganda has been lifted today as the Airport is re-opened and if all goes well, Qatar Airways flight QR 1385 is expected to touch down at Entebbe Airport today as the fist flight according to a letter by Eng Ayub Sooma, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) director for airports and aviation security, to managers of airlines operating in the country.
Fred Bamwesigye, the acting UCAA director general, said reopening of the airport will be guided by the global health and global aviation communities aiming at controlling the spread of COVID-19 because it is still affecting the world.
standard operating procedures (SOPs) at Entebbe Airport/ Uganda:
- According to the Ministry of Health, the visitor must come with A negative PCR COVID-19 certificate tested 72 hours at the point of origin and visitors will not be quarantined upon arrival. Likewise, passengers leaving Uganda for other countries shall also be required to have valid health certificates from the health ministry or undergo a rapid test at the airport before departure.
- According to the new plan, all doors in the airport terminal will be converted to automatic sensor opening non-touchable ones while all water taps will be replaced with non-touchable ones.
- All Visitor Must wear face Mask to cover the three soft spots: Mouth, Eyes and Nose.
- Social distancing is also another requirement.
- Sanitizing and or wash of hands with soap
On 23- 3-2020, the head of Uganda state: Yoweri Kaguta Museveni closed Entebbe Airport to passengers on March 23, 2020, as one of the lock down measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus but Cargo traffic continued to flow in and out.
On the side of Tourism: The re-opening of Entebbe International Airport has revived the lost hope of Tour operators. They are all thrilled by the news because they Jobless since the Airport was closed 23- 3-2020. ” We are hoping to resume work soon, the opening of Entebbe Airport has been the long awaited news to start work again.” Says Mathias, the tours and Travel Consultant African Jungle Adventures Ltd and Gorilla Expedition Ltd.
Gorilla trekking in Uganda is expected to boom again in a near future. It should be noted that Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park protects the largest number of Mountain Gorillas world wide. Almost half of the world’s remaining Mountain Gorillas are found here in Uganda. The trek still cost US$700 each compared to that of Rwanda at US$1500 per Gorilla trek.
Comparatively, Uganda is on added advantage than Rwanda as far as Gorilla tourism is concerned; – Uganda offers cheaper Gorilla trekking at US$700 lower than that of Rwanda at US$1500. You can fly to Kigali or Entebbe Airport to trek Uganda Gorillas. Uganda has two Gorilla parks and five trekking centres.
Alternatively, you can visit other parks like Kidepo Valley National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Semuliki National Park, Mount Elgon National Park, Mount Rwenzori National Park and Murchison Falls National Park among other tourist destinations in Uganda.