The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority(UCAA) has advised first time passengers to get to the airport at least three hours prior to the takeoff time to avoid inconveniences.

The authority noted that many first time travelers have been missing their flights for failure to abide by some of the simple guidelines hence causing inconveniences at the airport during the last hour.

The advice was given during NBS Spotlightug panel discussion on the state of the aviation industry in Uganda. The discussion took place on Monday night.

The Manager Public Affairs Uganda Civil Aviation Authority Vianney Mpungu Luggya, said most airlines close their check-in gates one hour to the flight.

"To the travelers, especially first-time travelers, we require that you have a valid passport, check whether the destination country you are going to requires a visa, then get a ticket," he guided.

He noted that the travelers also need to check for the requirements of the host country like yellow fever among others.

Luggya explained that the government has embarked on signing bilateral air service agreements which has enabled them to enhance connectivity.

He also noted that cargo operations didn't reduce as much as passengers during the Covid19 pandemic. The bulk of Uganda's cargo is exports, mainly fresh products, which is good news for the agricultural sector.

"Right now we are recovering from the effects of the pandemic, we are currently at around 80%. Consistency is measured over a period of months," he said.

Fred Bamwesigye, the Director General at UCAA said they were operating smoothly until Covid-19 came in.

He said that aviation is one of the sectors that was hardly hit by the pandemic.

"We didn't have revenue at that time except the cargo side but we kept operating until the restrictions were eased," he said.