Flights to isolated communities take off from Uganda’s main airport after flooding affects Kajjansi Airfield.
Mission Aviation Fellowship reacted quickly to switch flights to Entebbe airport when rising water levels meant its base at Kajjansi Airfield had to be temporarily closed.
The organisation moved Ugandan operations to Entebbe airport on Monday May 13, 2024, and was able to operate all the flights planned for that week from its new location.
Country Director Ruth Jack said she was proud of how the team responded so they could continue bringing help, hope and healing to isolated communities.
“I am incredibly proud of the hard work and skill our team demonstrated in this last week as they dealt with the upheaval of moving operations to Entebbe and managing significant work on the airfield with grace and good humour,” she said.
“Everyone has done extremely well, and I know we will come out of this stronger.”
While MAF Cessna Caravans took off from Entebbe airport, among the usual traffic of international jets, work was continuing at Kajjansi to get the airfield back in use.
A team of engineers has been busy every day of the week to ensure that the runway is ready again as soon as possible.
“Kajjansi airfield is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, and our runway runs along the edge of the lake swamp. In recent weeks the seasonal rains in East Africa have been unusually heavy, with the result that the lake levels have risen considerably, and our runway became vulnerable to flooding,” said Ruth.
“For some weeks this was manageable because the water cleared from the runway around mid-morning every day; but last week our whole runway was consumed by the flooding lake waters, and we were forced to close the runway for safety reasons.”
Once the works are complete, the runway will be at a new higher level, and better equipped to withstand heavy rains and potential flooding from Lake Victoria.
This work has been planned for some time and is included in a larger strategic development plan for the whole airfield. The recent flooding and lake rise prompted MAF management to bring this work forward, and there will be additional runway upgrades later in the year.
Marvin Masinde, MAF Uganda’s airfield supervisor is optimistic the runway will be in use again soon.
“We should be done with what we need to do this weekend, and we believe we will restore operations back here early next week,” he said.
MAF has served in Uganda since 1986 and is able to fly to nearly all airstrips in the country using light aircraft to bring help, hope and healing to people in remote places.
Shuttle flights are available to the eastern and northern routes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. MAF also recently launched a shuttle flight to the western and southwestern side of Uganda, which goes every Tuesday and Friday. It also has a weekly shuttle to Yambio, South Sudan, every Thursday. Charter flights are operated at the request of non-governmental organisations.
