On July 23, 2018, Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was ranked by Airhelp as the best airport in Africa.
There was a time when our own Entebbe International Airport (EBB) enjoyed that position comfortably. In 1963, EBB, which had been officially reopened in 1951, was ranked as the best airport in Africa.
Entebbe Airport was built to accommodate the Comets which introduced the world’s first jet service between London and Johannesburg. The original Control Tower and passenger buildings at Entebbe.
The Comet Service was started in 1952 and operated jointly by BOAC and South African Airways. The Comet called at Rome, Cairo, Khartoum, Entebbe, and Livingstone on its way to Johannesburg.
Entebbe was chosen in preference to Nairobi as at 5,500 feet, Nairobi was too hot and too high for the Comet 1. It would not be until 1958 that the later Comet 4 was able to operate through Nairobi’s then-new Embakasi Airport.
Not even the developments at EBB have pushed it to the top 100. Of the 141 airports ranked by Airhelp, Entebbe Airport is not mentioned anywhere.
One would then wonder, what happened to ‘best airport in Africa’?
In April, part of the airport flooded to due to heavy rains. There have been reports of theft, extortion, poor customer care, all of which affect the ratings.
Back then, EBB was hailed for a smooth runway, off-the-hook waiting facilities, unmatched tourism destination and accommodation facilities and customer care.
The story has since changed. The airport has fast become a laughing stock with critiques going as far as calling it a basketball court.
Democratic Party President, Norbert Mao recently told guests at a workshop that he would like to return and discuss more ‘sensitive topics’ such as “the airport with arrivals but no departures section.”
One might argue that the decline in the quality of the airport partly led to the collapse of Uganda Airlines. Other regional alternative airstrips such as Arua, Mbarara, Kabale, Kasese have turned into grazing lands as the bush beats the size of the murrum runways by far.
As Uganda looks set to revive her national airline, the question that remains is whether this will give EBB her lost shine and restore her status to the continent’s greats.