Five international airlines are expected to introduce flights to Uganda.

Uganda’s Civil Aviation Authority Marketing Manager, Tom Wasswa, said Air Europa, Iberia, Royal Air Maroc, Air China and Air Arabia were expected to operate flights to Entebbe International Airport soon.

Wasswa also revealed that the revival of Uganda Airlines was awaiting a final decision from the Ugandan cabinet.

He made the remarks in Kampala when he was updating tour operators and hotel owners on the progress of the expansion of Entebbe Airport. “We are glad that five airlines are set to operate flights to Entebbe soon and this will boost international tourist arrivals to our country.”

Uganda’s CAA Civil Engineer in Charge of Airport Development Programme, Daniel Kiyimba, said the expansion of Entebbe Airport was already under way. He noted that the installation of a new baggage handling system costing $4.8 million had already started. “The upgrade and expansion will cost $200 million and we expect the facility to offer quality services when the project is completed.”

Passenger traffic at Entebbe was expected to grow at 12.6% a year, from 1.4 million passengers in 2014 to 6.1 million passengers in 2033, said Kiyimba.