Uganda Civil Aviation Authority updates COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures

Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has reviewed COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) following the increase in passenger traffic accessing the Entebbe International Airport since its October 1 reopening after the lockdown from late March 2020.

The notice issued by Management contains the following directives:

Effective December 2020, departing and arriving passengers will only be dropped and picked from the airport by at most two people including the driver of the vehicle in order to avoid unnecessary crowding at the airport. Vehicles with more than the authorized number of people will not be allowed to access the airport .

Departing passengers are also reminded to have an  authentic and valid COVID-19 Polymarese Chain Reaction (PCR) certificate issued within 120 hours from the time of sample collection to the time of boarding the aircraft, even if the country the passenger is travelling to does not require it. In case the destination the passenger is travelling to requires a certificate within less than 120 hours, the number of hours required by the destination country will take priority. The PCR certificate should be accompanied by a receipt from the test center/laboratory.

Arriving passengers should also have an authentic and valid negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate from an accredited laboratory in the country of origin issued within 120 hours from the time of sample collection to the time of boarding the aircraft leaving the country of origin.

The latest update follows initial directive issued by UCAA in October prior to resumption of international flights.

Since then the country has witnessed a spike in COVID-19 cases tallied  at 30,071 with 10,251 recoveries and 230 deaths.