Entebbe International Airport

Entebbe International Airport

Entebbe International Airport (IATA: EBB, ICAO: HUEN) is the principal international airport of Uganda. It is located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of the town of Entebbe, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. This is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) by road south-west of the central business district of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda.

It is currently the only international airport of Uganda with the second airport known as Kabaale international airport under construction in Hoima the country’s centre for oil mining.

The airport was opened by the British Colonial authorities. On 10 November 1951, the airport was formally reopened after its facilities had been extended. Runway 12/30 was now 3,300 yards (3,000 m), in preparation for services by the de Havilland Comet. The new main terminal building of the airport was designed by Yugoslav Montenegrin architect Aleksandar Keković and built by Energoprojekt holding in 1972-1973 period.

The Old Entebbe airport is used by Uganda’s military forces. It was the scene of a hostage rescue operation by Israeli Sayeret Matkal, dubbed Operation Entebbe, in 1976 after an Arab-German hijacking of Air France Flight 139 following a stopover in Athens, Greece en route to Paris from Tel Aviv. The scene of that rescue was the old terminal, which has been demolished, except for its control tower and airport hall.

Passenger facilities include a left-luggage office, banks, automated teller machines, foreign exchange bureaux, restaurants, and duty-free shops.