Passengers on arrival at Pader Airfield. Uganda is improving the domestic aviation infrastructure. PHOTO | MORGAN MBABAZI | NMG
As Uganda seeks to revive its national carrier, local air travel
is also expected to ease when the country renovates airfields to
increase capacity for domestic flights.
Officials told The EastAfrican
that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) hopes to secure funds from the
government, the African Development Bank and World Bank in May 2019, to
start the upgrading of five airfields in different parts of the country.
This
would address concerns among local aviation companies and tour
operators, who have repeatedly voiced frustrations at the poor quality
of air transport infrastructure citing it as one of the biggest
hindrances to the progress of Uganda’s inland flights.
“We
are looking at creating an enabling environment, which is largely in
terms of infrastructure. When you create better airfields, you are
facilitating local flights,” said Vianney Luggya, CAA public affairs
manager.
Industry attractiveness
Four
years ago, CAA launched a 20-year masterplan from 2014 to 2033 that
will see the expansion of Entebbe International Airport and the
upgrading of several other airfields to promote local and international
flights in the wake of swelling traveller numbers and the revival of the
national carrier.
Uganda has more than 20 airfields, 12 of which are run by the
CAA while the rest are privately owned. These, however, are in poor
state with no equipment, bad murram runways, while some have been
abandoned.
Uganda barely compares with its East
African peers Kenya and Tanzania, which have over time developed a
robust inland aviation infrastructure.
While Uganda has scheduled local flights, these are few in number, expensive and serve only a limited destination.
Three
of the airfields — Arua in the West Nile region, Kasese in the west and
Gulu in the north — will be upgraded to international level while the
rest will be renovated.
“We have acquired land in
Kasese and Arua, and engineering designs and masterplans for those
planned for international upgrade are in place,” Mr Luggya said.
It
is estimated that Kasese airfield, which is critical for tourism in
western Uganda, will cost $176 million while that in Gulu — the northern
Uganda business hub — will cost $200 million.
Local
aviation companies have often complained about the poor state of the
infrastructure of airstrips as the main reason hindering opening up of
new routes, as well as imposing high maintenance and operation costs.
The government is also expanding the Entebbe airport and constructing a new one at Kabaale in the oil-rich Hoima district.
With
these developments, aviation sector players say that it needs to
develop systems that will enable local flights feed off the national
carrier, reduce transport time, support the oil industry and promote
tourism.
Sceptics, however, argue that with the
country’s majority poor barely able to afford air transport, the
aviation industry is still unattractive to investors.
“People
have invested in buses because our economy is at the bus level: most
people travel by bus,” said Capt Francis Babu, a retired pilot.
Local flights in Uganda remain a preserve of the privileged few as a trip from Entebbe to Arua costs $150, and only $8 by bus.
The
issue of affordability was echoed by another retired pilot and aviation
expert, Capt Mike Mukula, who believes that besides upgrading the
airfields, increasing household incomes is critical.
“We
also need to make sure that people do not spend a lot of time on the
road. Time is money. People have not yet realised that it is cheaper to
travel by air than road. It will be cheaper to fly to Arua for one hour
than using the road for eight hours,” Capt Mukula said.
According
to Joan Kagoro, head of sales and marketing at Eagle Air, one of
Uganda’s oldest aviation companies, competition within the country is
dominated by five local operators. But these operators must contend with
exorbitant taxes, high costs of maintenance and the poor state of
airport infrastructure.
Industry experts cite slow
traffic between Entebbe International Airport and the capital as an
issue that could be solved by having active airstrips in Kampala that
act as drop-off points.
Unlike Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, Uganda’s international airport is quite far from the central business district, at 42km.
“We
need public-private partnerships to work on these airstrips. The one at
Naguru would have been ideal but the land was taken over by police.
Kololo
has been turned into a venue for national celebrations. So we lost
these two locations in the city centre that would have been ideal for
light aviation,” Capt Mukula said.
Ms Kagoro explained that the high prices for local flights are a result of the low level of utilisation of scheduled flights.
To
support tourism, government also plans to open up five upcountry
aerodromes for international entries and exits in the top tourist
attraction centres — mainly the national parks of Kidepo, Murchison
Falls and others in Western Uganda.
Uganda Tourism
Board deputy chief executive officer John Ssempebwa argues that
development of infrastructure to support local flights will attract
high-end tourists to Uganda.
“Clients who are very high
end have no time to move by road from Kampala up to say Kidepo. When
there are flights, they can even visit the whole of Uganda in three
days,” said Mr Ssempebwa.
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