The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) and other stakeholders have conducted a full-scale emergency exercise at Entebbe International Airport.
The exercise aimed to test the airport’s readiness to respond to an emergency involving a passenger aircraft presumed to have crashed adjacent to Runway 12/30.
The two-hour exercise simulated an East Sky Airlines flight (pseudonym) with 95 passengers and 5 crew members on board.
The scenario assumed that the Embraer 190 aircraft crashed in an area adjacent to the airport’s perimeter fence and caught fire, prompting an emergency response from airport firefighters and other rescue agencies.
The exercise presumed that 25 people lost their lives, 13 survivors were injured, and 62 people were successfully rescued without injury. The critically injured were rushed to hospitals in Entebbe and Kampala, while the uninjured were reunited with friends and family.
This exercise is a mandatory requirement for international airports of countries that are contracting member states of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Entebbe International Airport last held a full-scale emergency exercise in 2023.
UCAA Director General Fred K. Bamwesigye commended the over 600 participants from 50 agencies involved in the exercise.
He noted that the exercise tested inter-agency coordination, assessed incident command, evaluated emergency medical services, and measured collaboration in high-stress conditions.
Bamwesigye further revealed that the latest traffic statistics through Entebbe International Airport show increased passenger and cargo traffic in April 2025.
In April 2025, Entebbe Airport facilitated 93,194 arrivals and 92,272 departures, a total of 185,466 international passengers, which is an average of 6,182 passengers per day compared to an average of 5,490 per day recorded in April 2024.
The April 2025 figure is higher than the April 2024 figure by 20,761 passengers.
Concerning cargo, imports were 2,088 metric tons and exports were 4,010 metric tons, a total of 6,098 metric tons in April 2025 compared to the total of 5,721 metric tons of cargo in April 2024.