The Works and Transport Minister, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala has asked investors that they should take advantage of the great opportunities and virginity of in Uganda's domestic flights sector.
"I ask those with good monies to invest in internal flights. We have high end tourists who don't want to be on the road for many hours. They want to come to Entebbe and fly to Kisoro to see the gorillas, stay there for two days and return to their home country. I therefore encourage those with money to invest in internal flights. The potential is there since we have many aerodromes and many are coming up ," Gen Katumba said.
Uganda received 814,508 international visitors in 2022, up 59% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Tourism and according to Gen Katumba, investors can tap into these numbers to invest into domestic flights, especially to tourism sites.
The Works and Transport Minister was speaking during the closing ceremony of the first ever Uganda Aviation Expo.
He noted that Uganda's international tourists keep on increasing every year, which he said is a great opportunity for investors in all sectors, but most especially domestic flights.
Aviation expo
The three-day expo intended to sensitize Ugandans about the country's aviation sector attracted over 15000 members of the public with more than 500 getting an opportunity to fly for the first time.
Gen Katumba hailed the organisers for the initiative that he said has created memories for many but also demystify the aviation sector.
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"It is now good you have brought them on ground to experiment and have the real feel of the aircraft. It has also given an opportunity for the community to see how wide the industry is to know that there are so many areas in the aviation industry and not only pilots. None of them knew about air traffic control, engineers or cabin crew and the so many areas the aviation industry brings into play," he said.
The Works and Transport Minister said by getting knowledge about the aviation sector, many will be encouraged to invest in it.
"For example, many didn't know of the many jobs in this sector. The Uganda Airlines alone which just started a few years ago employs over 260 Ugandans. Many didn't know this. This expo has helped expose the industry for people to know it is not out of reach for ordinary people."
The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) Director General, Fred Bamwesigye said the aviation sector is not understood by many, including Members of Parliament but noted the expo has helped demystify this.
"Many times, aviation is not understood even by lawmakers. Uganda is a landlocked country without direct access to the see. The options we have to reach other regions is aviation and therefore we must support it. These three days of the expo show that Ugandans are asking us to get aviation facilities to different places of leisure,"Bamwesigye said.
He said it is high time more is done to take the aviation sector to members of the public.
The UCAA Director General said they are looking at moving out to schools and other institutions of learning to interest learners in the aviation sector as one of the ways to demystify the sector.
The aviation expo climaxed with an airshow by the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People's Defence Air Force(UPDAF).
