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Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Construction of a new cargo centre at Entebbe International Airport is almost complete, the Civil Aviation Authority has said.
The cargo centre is part of the 720 billion Shillings project undertaken by China Communications Construction Company to expand and upgrade Entebbe International airport.
The new outfit sits on a 28-hectare piece of land stretching from the Ministry of Agriculture Veterinary department, close to the Civil Aviation Authority head office towards the Radar to the Uganda Police base close to Lake Victoria. It will have the capacity to handle 100,000 tons of cargo daily.
The projects under the cargo centre include the land side access road currently at 95 per cent completion, a terminal building and cargo complex currently at 75 per cent, an aircraft parking apron now at 70 per cent, a car parking apron and a service road from the terminal to the current airside, all at 60 per cent completion.
Vianney Luggya, the Public Affairs Manager of the Civil Aviation Authority says the project which was delayed by bad weather conditions, is expected to be completed at the end of the year. He says that the completion. He is optimistic that upon completion, the cargo centre will reduce congestion at the main Entebbe airport terminal and runway.
The expansion and upgrade of the airport according to Luggya is part of the 20-year master plan (2014 – 2033) that projects an increment in the number of passengers using the International airport to 7.5 million annually. Last year, passenger traffic at Entebbe International airport stood at 1.84 million people.
Other ongoing projects at the airport include the upgrade and expansion of the second runway 12/30 at the old airport, the upgrade and expansion of runway 17/35 including the rehabilitation of the Taxiways for the aircraft parking aprons and the expanding the aircrafts parking aprons for commercial aircraft.
The projects are jointly handled by contractors China Nanjing, China Communications Construction Company and Senayi brothers Uganda Limited.
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