Q&A <<From Page 19
flight schedules that have been agreed with airlines were partly informed by this experience.
operating at the airport during commercial passenger operations. The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority has had an understanding with the Ministry of Health to run the Port Health services at the airport (departure and arrival). Other local and international agencies have financially contributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to safeguard the frontline staff and passengers during the screening process. A lot of stakeholder coordination is expected between the airport management, policy makers (Government), airlines and airport service providers for a smoother passenger facilitation process.
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The Aviator - October 2020
QN: From an operation standpoint, what lessons have been learnt from the repatriation FLIGHTS that have been operating during the lockdown period? While the airport had been closed to commercial flight operations, Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved various evacuation and repatriation flights through the airport. These flights have given us the experience of what it will take to observe physical distancing and profiling of passengers. A number of challenges experienced in handling these flights have been discussed extensively with stakeholders and solutions devised. The
But perhaps the most important outcome was that we have been able to validate the accuracy of our scanners. All arriving passengers that were picked out having abnormally high temperatures by our thermal scanners, were subsequently confirmed to have abnormal temperatures even by the Ministry of Health guns. And indeed, all of them tested positive for Covid-19. This experience enhanced our confidence in the accuracy of the thermal scanners at Entebbe International Airport. With think the accuracy levels of this equipment are above 99percent. These scanners can screen a passenger within a radius of 30 metres, triggering an alarm with every suspect case. QN: What should the travelling public be prepared going forward? Passengers will be required to arrive at the airport at least 4 hours to the flight in order to have adequate time to go through the port health screening procedures. Passengers should travel light and can be escorted or picked at the airport by not more than a driver. Passengers should have valid Covid-19 health certificates for the last 72 hours before travel out or into the country. All passengers will be expected to wear face masks, regularly sanitise and observe social distancing while in the terminal and at the airport.
