Entebbe (EBB): the fast road is tolled, and the published taxi price is two numbers that no longer match
The airport tells you the Entebbe Express Highway is faster and does not mention that it is a toll road. A car pays 5,000 shillings a trip, and a motorbike under 400cc is banned from it outright. The airport also prices its own taxi at both 40 US dollars and 100,000 shillings.
- The Entebbe Express Highway is a toll road. The airport page says only that it is faster.
- A light vehicle pays 5,000 shillings per trip, a motorcycle over 400cc 3,000, a medium goods vehicle 10,000, a bus 15,000 and the largest lorries 18,000.
- A trip means one direction, from any of the three entry plazas at Busega, Kajjansi or Mpala to any of the three exits.
- You can pay cash in Uganda shillings at the booth, or tap an Upesi card. Cash payers should wait for the receipt.
- Motorbikes below 400cc are prohibited from the expressway, along with pedestrians and animals. A boda-boda therefore cannot use the fast road at all.
- The airport's own taxi price is 40 US dollars or 100,000 shillings. Those two are not the same amount of money at any recent rate, so agree which currency you are paying in before the car moves.
- Airport taxis carry a yellow band and AIRPORT TAXI in black letters, each with an identification number. Note the number. They park at arrivals, ground level.
- Anything other than Kampala is negotiated, by the airport's own wording.
- The road is 42 km, partly dual carriageway, limit 80 km/h, about 40 minutes. Heavy traffic morning and evening.
- Commuter minibuses charge about 2,000 shillings for the 4 km to Entebbe town (Kitoro) and about 5,000 from Entebbe to Kampala, roughly an hour, hand luggage included. Pay in shillings.
- Uber publishes a dedicated Entebbe airport page and lets you schedule the pickup with Uber Reserve.
- Bolt's own airport directory names Entebbe, the only Ugandan airport on it. Bolt's Ugandan cities are Kampala, Gulu and Mbarara.
- Both apps therefore work here, which is the cheapest insurance against the two-currency taxi price.
The quick way in costs money
- The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority ends its Entebbe transport section with one line: it is faster to use the Entebbe Express Highway. It does not say that the expressway is tolled.
- The Ministry of Works and Transport's own expressway site prices it: 3,000 shillings for a motorcycle over 400cc, 5,000 for a light vehicle, 10,000 for a medium goods vehicle, 15,000 for a bus, 18,000 for the largest lorries.
- A trip is a single journey in one direction, entering at Busega, Kajjansi or Mpala and leaving at Busega, Kajjansi Roundabout or Mpala Interchange. A return trip is charged twice.
- Pay cash in Uganda shillings at the booth or tap an Upesi card. Cards are issued free at the three plazas; a lost one costs 20,000 shillings to replace.
- Motorbikes below 400cc are banned from the expressway. So are pedestrians and animals. The FCDO's advice not to take a boda-boda is reinforced by the road itself: an ordinary boda cannot legally use it.
The taxi price the airport publishes
- 40 US dollars or 100,000 Uganda shillings. The airport prints both as though they were the same price. They are not, and have not been for years.
- Agree the currency and the figure before you get in. The dollar number is the higher of the two at any recent rate, so a driver quoting dollars and a passenger thinking in shillings are not talking about the same fare.
- Look for the yellow band and the words AIRPORT TAXI in black, with an identification number, at arrivals on the ground level. Note the number down. Any destination other than Kampala is explicitly negotiable.
The cheap way, and the app way
- Commuter minibuses run the airport to Entebbe town (Kitoro) leg, 4 km, for about 2,000 shillings, and Entebbe to Kampala for about 5,000 shillings per passenger including hand luggage, in about an hour. The airport says to pay in shillings and to use the airport forex bureau.
- Uber has an Entebbe airport page of its own and offers a scheduled pickup through Uber Reserve. Bolt's worldwide airport directory names Entebbe International Airport, the only airport it lists in Uganda.
- That makes Entebbe unusual among the airports in this batch: two international apps that both say, in their own directories, that they work here.
Entebbe (EBB): the parking tariff link goes nowhere, and the terminal runs around the clock
The airport advertises a range of parking packages and links to a tariff that does not exist: the Download parking Fees link is an empty anchor. What is published is the lounge price, the bag wrapping price, the post office hours and 24 hour restaurants and baggage tracing.
- No parking tariff is published. The page advertises a range of packages and its Download parking Fees link is an empty anchor that goes nowhere.
- Entry is automated: stop at the ticket machine, press the button, wait about 10 seconds for the ticket, then approach the barrier.
- Keep the ticket. You need it to drive out.
- The Karibuni departure lounge sells access to economy passengers at 45 US dollars for adults and 25 for children, for three hours, drinks and snacks included.
- Quick-Wrap-Fly bag wrapping at check-in costs 30 US dollars per bag.
- The terminal restaurants are open 24 hours: Crane Cafeteria in arrivals, Crane Cafeteria Transit and Good African Coffee.
- Banks and bureaux de change sit on both the departures and the arrivals level and handle most convertible currencies.
- Keep the receipt for any hard currency bought from a money dealer. That is the airport's own instruction.
- Free wifi from Liquid Telecom and Airtel covers check-in, the transit concourse, the boarding lounges and the arrivals hall.
- Baggage tracing at the arrivals claim area is staffed 24 hours. Items lost elsewhere in the building go to the Aviation Security office on the departures floor.
- The post office on the departures level opens 08:00 to 12:45 and 14:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturday, and is closed on Sunday.
- Everyone entering the passenger and cargo terminals is screened, passengers, staff and public alike.
- The Airport Medical Centre at the northern end of arrivals is open 24 hours, and yellow fever vaccination there costs 40 US dollars or 120,000 shillings.
Parking that does not publish a price
- The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority's Entebbe page says the car park is automated, that there is a range of packages, and offers a Download parking Fees link. That link is an empty anchor. There is no tariff behind it and none anywhere else on the site.
- The mechanics are published even though the prices are not: stop at the ticket dispensing machine, press the button, wait roughly ten seconds for the ticket, then approach the barrier. Keep the ticket, because you need it to exit.
- If you are being collected, the sensible plan is a fixed meeting point and a short wait, not an open-ended one priced by a tariff nobody can read in advance.
What the terminal does publish
- Karibuni Lounge: 45 US dollars for an adult, 25 for a child, three hours, drinks and snacks included, for passengers travelling in economy. Airline invitations are separate.
- Quick-Wrap-Fly bag wrapping at check-in: 30 US dollars a bag.
- Restaurants run 24 hours, which matters on a red-eye: Crane Cafeteria in arrivals, Crane Cafeteria Transit and Good African Coffee.
- Free wifi from Liquid Telecom and Airtel reaches check-in, the transit concourse, boarding lounges and the arrivals hall.
- The post office is on the departures level: 08:00 to 12:45 and 14:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 13:00 Saturday, closed Sunday.
Money, baggage and health
- Banks and bureaux de change are on both the departures and the arrivals level and take most convertible currencies. Hard currency bought from money dealers should be accompanied by an official receipt, which is the airport's own wording.
- The baggage tracing office at the arrivals claim belt is open 24 hours. Misconnected bags go to the ground handler's office in the arrivals hall or to your airline. Things lost elsewhere in the building go to the Aviation Security office on the departures floor.
- The Airport Medical Centre is open 24 hours at the northern, landside end of arrivals, with a health desk inside the arrivals hall. Yellow fever vaccination there is 40 US dollars or 120,000 shillings, though the certificate only becomes valid ten days later, so it is a fallback and not a plan.
- Everyone who enters the passenger or cargo terminal is security screened.
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