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Uganda Civil Aviation Authority

The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) is the government agency responsible for licensing, monitoring, and regulating civil aviation matters in the country. It is administered by the Uganda Ministry of Works and Transport.[4]

Location

The authority's head offices are at Entebbe International Airport, approximately 49 km south of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda.[5] The coordinates of the CAA headquarters are 0°02'23.0"N, 32°26'53.0"E (Latitude:0.039722; Longitude:32.448056).[6]

Overview

The agency was created by an Act of Parliament in 1994 as a state agency of the Ministry of Transport, Housing and Communication. As of October 2016, it was under the Ministry of Works and Transport.

The mandate of the UCAA is to coordinate and oversee Uganda's aviation industry, including licensing, regulation, air search and rescue, air traffic control, ownership of airports and aerodromes, and implementation of Ugandan and international aviation law. It also represents Uganda in an international capacity within the aviation community and in all other aviation matters. As of October 2016, the UCAA managed Entebbe International Airport and 13 other airports across the country.[7]

Organization and operations

, the CAA works with an administrative and operational structure of six directorates: (1) Directorate of Airports and Aviation Security[8] (2) Directorate of Air Navigation Services[9] (3) Directorate of Safety, Security & Economic Regulation[10] (4) Directorate of Finance (5) Directorate of Human Resources & Administration (6) Directorate of Corporate Affairs[11]

Expansion plans

In January 2015, Minister of Works and Transport Abraham Byandala unveiled a 20-year plan to increase international airports from one to five and regional airports from two to three; and improve six existing local airports. The plan also calls for the improvement of Entebbe International Airport at a cost of US$200 million.[4][12] Another $200 million will be needed to complete the upgrades to the other airports.[13]

Governance

The acting chief executive officer and Director General is Fred Bamwesigye. The chairman of the board of directors is Justice Steven Kavuma.[1] As of September 2023, the following are the members of the board of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority:[14] 1. Justice Steven Kavuma: Chairman 2. Ms. Ethel Kamba 3. Dr. Andrew Alyao Ocero 4. Thomas James Kiggundu 5. Moses Paul Lubowa 6. John Washington Bulindi 7. Ms Sylvia Namubiru 8. Godfrey Ssemugooma[14]

Name change

In July 2019, the President of Uganda signed The CAA Amendment Act 2019. The parliamentary act changed the name of the agency to Uganda Civil Aviation Authority.[15]

Certification and recognition

In September 2019, UCAA was awarded an international aviation award in air safety following outstanding performance in the Universal Security Audit Programme, conducted in 2017, by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Uganda scored 81.8 percent in the audit, compared with the global average of 73 percent and the African and Indian Ocean (APII) states average of 58 percent, according to ICAO.[16]

In October 2019, the International Trade Council, recognized the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority with the Government Agency of the Year Going Global Award 2019, in the Aviation Category. The award is in recognition of infrastructure improvement, staff training, customer care, support of tourism and facilitation of agricultural exports through Entebbe International Airport.[17][18]

In September 2023, UCAA together with Entebbe International Airport and Uganda Airlines underwent the ICAO Oversight Safety Audit.[19][20] Preliminary results indicate that Uganda scored 72.17 percent against the APII regional average of 55.66 percent and the global average of 67.68 percent. Detailed scores of this audit are expected to be released by ICAO in the second quarter of 2024.[21]

Developments

As of October 2024, Uganda had 57 active bilateral aviation safety agreements of which 26 were with African countries.[22]

See also

  • Ugandan space initiatives
  • List of airports in Uganda
  • Entebbe International Airport
  • Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda
  • Uganda Airlines

External links

References

  1. Anthony Wesaka. Justice Kavuma bounces back from retirement, appointed Aviation board chair Daily Monitor, 3 June 2020, retrieved 3 June 2020^
  2. Eve Muganga. Fred Bamwesigye appointed new UCAA boss Daily Monitor, 1 October 2021, retrieved 1 October 2021^
  3. Isaac Mufumba. CAA gets new deputy director general Daily Monitor, 7 November 2021, retrieved 5 December 2021^
  4. Paul Tajuba. CAA unveils master plan to create four new international airports Daily Monitor, 30 January 2015, retrieved 30 January 2015^
  5. {{google maps|url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Uganda+Post+Office,+Plot+35+Kampala+Road,+Kampala+P.O.BOX+7106,+KAMPALA/Civil+Aviation+Authority,+2CQX%2BX76,+Kampala+-+Entebbe+Road,+Entebbe+5536/@0.2911442,32.3167903,8.37z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x177dbc808cc2ab43:0x7dd3e9e39634c3b!2m2!1d32.58138!2d0.3137559!1m5!1m1!1s0x177d86cd681fdd63:0xcbf40f2eacc58dd0!2m2!1d32.4481416!2d0.039922!3e0?entry=ttu |title=Distance Between Post Office Building, Kampala Road, Kampala, Uganda and Civil Aviation Authority, Entebbe, Central Region, Uganda |access-date=12 January 2024}}^
  6. {{google maps | title=Location of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority Headquarters, Entebbe, Uganda |access-date=18 October 2016 | url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/0%C2%B002'23.0%22N+32%C2%B026'53.0%22E/@0.0397274,32.4458727,445m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d0.039722!4d32.448056}}^
  7. Advertisement. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) seeks to recruit several Ugandan The Observer (Uganda), 26 May 2013, retrieved 18 October 2016^
  8. CAA. Airports and Aviation Security Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda (CAA), 22 October 2016, retrieved 22 October 2016^
  9. CAA. Directorate of Air Navigation Services Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda (CAA), 22 October 2016, retrieved 22 October 2016^
  10. CAA. Uganda Civil Aviation Authority: Directorate of Safety, Security and Economic Regulation Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), 22 October 2016, retrieved 22 October 2016^
  11. CAA. Uganda Civil Aviation Authority: Directorate of Corporate Affairs Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), 20 October 2016, retrieved 22 October 2016^
  12. Alon Mwesigwa. Uganda: Airports To Generate USh8.5 Trillion Annually The Observer (Uganda) via AllAfrica.com, retrieved 18 October 2016^
  13. Paul Tentena. Uganda aviation plan needs $400m East African Business Week, 1 February 2015, retrieved 2 February 2015^
  14. ChimpReports. Uganda Civil Aviation Authority Gets New Board of Directors ChimpReports, 27 September 2023, retrieved 1 October 2023^
  15. Dorothy Nakaweesi. Airline Regulator Changes Name Daily Monitor, 9 July 2019, retrieved 11 July 2019^
  16. John Masaba. Uganda Wins International Aviation Award In Air Safety New Vision, 25 September 2019, retrieved 26 September 2019^
  17. SoftPower Reporter. Uganda's Aviation Body Wins Global Award For Facilitating Trade SoftPower Uganda, 30 October 2019, retrieved 2 November 2019^
  18. Eve Muganga. Uganda's Aviation Authority Scoops 'Going Global' Award Daily Monitor, 30 October 2019, retrieved 2 November 2019^
  19. George Asiimwe. ICAO to Audit Entebbe Airport Standards as Uganda Airlines Remain Locked out of UK Airspace ChimpReports, 7 September 2023, retrieved 23 September 2023^
  20. The Independent Uganda. Uganda Airlines poised to end year on a high The Independent (Uganda), 22 September 2023, retrieved 23 September 2023^
  21. Sylivia Katushabe. Audit has ranked us highly, say Entebbe airport bosses Daily Monitor, 29 September 2023, retrieved 1 October 2023^
  22. Eve Muganga. Uganda eyes expanded air routes after successful ICAN 2024 negotiations Daily Monitor, 27 October 2024, retrieved 27 October 2024^