The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Director General, Fred Bamwesigye has oultined his priorities for a new second term where he intends to complete, “many unfinished and new tasks in the Aviation regulatory environment.”
Mr Bamwesigye whose reappointment was approved by the CAA Board last week, shared some of the key priorities on his X social handle expounded on the tremendous growth of civil aviation in Uganda over the past few years, especially with the coming on board of Uganda Airlines, and the regulatory terrain which requires capacity building of staff.
Top on the list of the Director General’s priorities is the continued upgrade and expansion (inclusive of acquiring land) of the facilities at Entebbe International Airport and those upcountry, including the completion of Kabalega International Airport for oil operations in the Hoima District.
He highlighted that the developer for the Kidepo Airport development will start construction works in November. Kidepo has been earmarked as one of the tourism circuit airports for the East African region and others are Arua, Kasese, Kisoro, Pakuba, & Gulu.
The primary reason for Entebbe Airport expansion program is the need to build a hub for Uganda Airlines as the pressure of limited facilities for both the airside and landside is already being felt, with the new extension set to have all the facilities for the airlines.
Tribunal Backs URA in UGX 10.2 Billion Century Bottling Tax Fight“I don’t know why local hotel developers are not focusing on Entebbe because even now when flights are canceled, hotel accommodation in Entebbe is overbooked. I have, however, noticed a lot of developments in Entebbe & surrounding towns these days & this could be partly a cause,” he remarked.
Due to the increasing expansion of Uganda’s aviation industry, Bamwesigye noted that, it is increasingly becoming necessary to separate regulatory activities from the operations side.
“We have just completed two ICAO Universal Safety and Security oversight audit programmes, and the direction of our regulatory activities will be guided by addressing the gaps identified as well as strengthening the existing regulatory frameworks,” Mr Bamwesigye said.
