How High Charges at Entebbe Airport Uganda will affect your Next Air Ticket

26-Jan-2012

The high cost of landing and parking at Entebbe Airport is hurting airline businesses, according to players.
The charges according to players are the highest in East Africa, which makes Entebbe Airport one of the most expensive airports
for the airline business in the region.

For instance, aircrafts are charged $110 (small) and $320 (big) at Entebbe Airport for every extra hour after parking for six hours compared to $10 (small 10,000 kilogramme) and $130 (big 30,000 kilogramme) charged at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya.

Aircrafts are charged for landing at a particular airport including an hour’s charge for carriers parked at the airport for more than six hours.

Speaking to Daily Monitor on Tuesday, Ms Jennifer Musiime, the Air Uganda marketing manager, said whereas these charges apply to every individual aircraft, as a young airline, Air Uganda had found them quite disturbing.

She said: “The charges are extremely high and they have been maintained at that level for quite a long time.”

Mr Donald Ajoga, the Kenya Airways country manager, told Daily Monitor the charges at Uganda’s only airport have always been
a burden to the industry, eating into profits and increasing the cost of doing business. “We have always been affected by the high
airport charges in general, they are so enormous compared to all the other regional airports,” he said.

When contacted, Mr Rama Makuza, the Civial Aviation Authority managing director, promised to furnish Daily Monitor with details,
however, by press time, he had not done so. According to players, such charges have raised the cost of doing business, making
Entebbe Airport a rather uncompetitive destination in the region.


The high charges have also resulted into high ticket fees, which are shouldered by the passengers, who end up cushioning aircraft
companies against their high operational costs.

By Flavia Nalubega : The Daily Monitor Newspaper