Regional and international airlines – including Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines – will resume services to Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport on October 1.

The Director of Airports and Aviation Security for the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, Al-Hajj Eng. Sooma Ayub, said the airport was tentatively scheduled to open for three months. It had been closed since March 22 for passenger flights to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Uganda Tourism Board is currently working on an evaluation by the global Safer Tourism Seal in preparation for reopening airports. The Safer Tourism Seal, initiated by the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTR&CM), is awarded to tourism destinations based on their own set of health and safety protocols. These are evaluated by independent tourism consultants – who have been certified by GTR&CM – across the globe.

Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania have also recently opened their airports to international flights.

However, health and safety concerns, negative travel advisories and quarantines imposed by countries of origin, have meant that international tourism numbers have remained low since the borders opened.