Uganda prepares for reopening of airport

The National Covid-19 taskforce is discussing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that will guide the reopening of Entebbe International Airport to passenger flights, this website has learnt.

President Museveni closed the airport to passenger flights on March 22 as part of the lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the pathogen that causes Covid-19.

Only planes carrying cargo and individuals working with humanitarian organisations were permitted to access the airport until the activity to repatriate Ugandans who were stranded abroad due to Covid-19 commenced.

Already, SOPs to facilitate passenger flight resumption have been drafted and they are being discussed by stakeholders, a spokesperson for Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) said in a call.

The SOPs are being "discussed by different stakeholders but they haven't been adopted," Vianney Luggya, the UCAA spokesperson, said.

Luggya said the date for reopening will be announced by the president just as he did while allowing the resumption of other businesses.

"I know many people are asking but it's not us to approve," he said.

Our neighbors Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda have already resumed commercial flights.

Some of the SoPs that are being discussed, include installation of automated sanitiser at strategic points, marks at the airport to ensure social distancing, acquisition of temperature guns and ultra-modern scans to detect temperature at a 30-metre distance.

Others are erection of executive tents at the airside and these will be used for screening and isolation to identify symptoms and testing for Covid-19.