- From February 3rd, Saudi Arabian national carrier, Saudi Airlines, has commenced direct flights from Riyadh to Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport.
- This is the first direct flight between the two destinations and becomes one of the 17 international airlines to operate in Entebbe.
From February 3rd, Saudi Arabian national carrier, Saudi Airlines, has commenced direct flights from Riyadh to Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport. This is the first direct flight between the two destinations and becomes one of the 17 international airlines to operate in Entebbe.
Saudi Arabia is a significant trade partner of Uganda. In 2020, Uganda’s imports from Saudi Arabia stood at $274.5 million, according to official data. Uganda’s exports to Saudi Arabia was around $5.2million.
Hospitality industry, business men and Man power recruitment agencies have welcomed the development. Mostly the traffic between Riyadh and Entebbe consist of Tourists, business people and job seekers.
Mr Vianney Luggya, the spokesperson of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, said that the traffic between the two destinations have shown steady growth. The direct flight is expected to increase the traffic further.
According to the data from the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, Middle East countries account for 21 percent of the passenger traffic at Entebbe Airport.
Like many other countries, the Pandemic and the resultant travel restrictions had led to sharp decline in passenger numbers at Entebbe to less than half. Against a traffic of 1.98 million passengers in 2019 after the advent of the pandemic, it plunged to 600,000 passengers in 2020 with a slight improvement in 2021 recording 940,000 passengers.
