Airport traffic and airline route events
Seats decide arrivals, and arrivals decide occupancy. True seats-per-week data sits behind commercial aviation databases, so nothing is published here that cannot be verified. What is tracked instead is official airport traffic, which is authoritative but lagging, and confirmed route events, which are forward-looking and actionable.
Official airport traffic
| Airport | Metric | Latest | Change | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JKIA Nairobi (NBO)Broadly flat month-on-month. Major expansion planned under the National Infrastructure Fund — new facilities and a runway. | Passenger arrivals | 227,974 | −0.4% vs February (228,826) | March 2026 | KNBS Verified |
Entebbe (EBB)A material decline, consistent with the Ebola outbreak and advisory environment.A material decline, consistent with the Ebola outbreak and advisory environment. This is the clearest hard evidence that the Uganda shock is showing up in actual traffic — not just sentiment. Watch Q2 for whether it deepens. | International arrivals | 239,850 | −7.9% vs Q1 2025 (260,434) | Q1 2026 | UCAA via Aviation Week Verified |
| Entebbe (EBB)New passenger terminal opened January 2026, lifting capacity from 2m to at least 3.5m annually. Capacity is no longer Uganda's constraint — demand is. | Terminal capacity | 3.5m/yr | up from 2m | From Jan 2026 | UCAA Verified |
Confirmed route events
| Route | Carrier | Status | Effective | Segment | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nairobi ⇄ Entebbe (non-stop)Cuts a regional connection that previously routed via Kisumu. Easier multi-country itineraries; good for Kampala city hotels chasing transit corporate traffic. | Safarilink | Operating | 1 May 2026 | City | Safarilink / KATA |
| Nairobi ⇄ Kisumu ⇄ EntebbeTwice-daily service retained alongside the non-stop. | Safarilink | Continues | Since Jan 2026 | City | KATA |
| 14 destinations ex-EntebbeDaily Nairobi rotations and three weekly to Zanzibar. Build UG-origin weekend packages around the Zanzibar frequency. | Uganda Airlines | Operating | July 2026 schedule | City, Beach | KATA |
| Kigali ⇄ ZanzibarOpens Rwanda–Zanzibar safari-and-beach combinations without routing through Nairobi or Dar. | RwandAir | Driving 2026 growth | 2026 | Beach, Bush | Aviation trade press |
| Entebbe & KigaliForward signal, not yet flying. If it lands, it adds regional lift into two capitals. | Flightlink (TZ) | Announced — acquiring ATR 72-600s | 2026 | City | Aviation Week |
| Johannesburg ⇄ Zanzibar / NairobiSouthern African feed into both a beach and a city market — a source market EA operators under-work. | Airlink (SA) | Launching | 2026 | Beach, City | Travel And Tour World |
Other live trackers
- Park fees & leviesPark, permit, visa and levy prices by country
- Travel advisoriesUS and UK advisory levels, side by side
- Hotel rate indexMedian lead-in rates across eleven markets
- Cost indexFuel, currency, energy and inflation pressure
- Development pipelineSignings, openings and rooms under construction
- MICE calendarConferences and expos that compress room stock
Follow the Pulse
Every change to this tracker is reported in the daily brief.