KABALE — Hoima International Airport also Kabaale International Airport, Uganda’s second International Airport in the Kabaale Industrial Park, Hoima is expected to be completed in April 2022, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority has said.
UCAA says the new airport is expected to facilitate mobilization of equipment for the construction of the Uganda Oil Refinery and assist in the development of agriculture and tourism in Uganda’s Western Region.
Hoima Airport is located in Kabaale Parish, Buseruka sub-county, Hoima District in the Western Region of Uganda, near the Kaiso-Tonya oil fields and the Uganda Oil Refinery.
SBC Uganda Limited – a joint venture company between United Kingdom’s Colas Limited and a subsidiary of Israel’s Shikun and Binui namely SBI International Holdings of Uganda – were in April 2018 given the mandate to undertake the construction works of the project.
The work includes paving a 3.5 kilometers (11,000 ft.) of runways, carrying out of earthwork and drainage activities, pouring of cement and asphalt, building of electro-mechanical systems, building communications and navigation systems, construction of an air traffic control tower, a cargo terminal, additional residencies and service structures.
The project also involves construction of a multi-purpose terminal building for cargo and passengers, a control tower, an airfield ground lighting system, a fire station, car parking lot, access roads, taxiway, perimeter fence and electrical center, among other facilities.
1st and 2nd phases
Speaking after a tour at the site recently, Uganda Civil Aviation Authority’s manager for public affairs Vianney Luggya said that the first phase of construction which includes the runway and cargo-handling facilities, is expected to be ready by next year.
This phase is above all made to support the construction of the oil refinery due to the runway’s capability to handle big and heavy aircrafts.
“In 2022, the second phase of construction shall be delivered. This phase emphasizes on the facilitation of passengers. It shall therefore boost tourism and business especially in the agricultural sector,” said Luggya.
Upon completion, the US $294m project partly funded by the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) and Standard Chartered, will also have an Aircraft Parking Apron on a 81,500 square meters space with the capacity to park four large body aircrafts and a possibility of further expansion in future.
Generally, Kabaale will be the second international airport in Uganda after Entebbe.