East African Civil Aviation Academy

The East African Civil Aviation Academy (EACAA), also known as the Soroti Flying School, is a Ugandan school that trains aircraft pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers.[3]

East African Civil Aviation Academy
TypePublic
Established1971 (1971)
Vice-ChancellorLieutenant Colonel Ronald Turyamubona[1]
Students108 (2013)[2]
Location
Soroti
,
Uganda
CampusUrban
WebsiteHomepage

Location

The school is based at Soroti Airport, (IATA: SRT, ICAO: HUSO), in the town of Soroti in the Eastern Region. It is approximately 228 kilometres (142 mi), by air, north-east of Entebbe International Airport, Uganda's largest civilian and military airport.[4] The coordinates of the airport are 1°43'15.0"N; 33°37'03.0"E (Latitude:1.720833; Longitude:33.617500).[5]

Overview

As of May 2018, the flying school was undergoing renovations and a certification process to become a center of aviation excellence in the region. New technical staff have been recruited, including (a) a Director (b) a Quality Manager (c) a Safety Manager (d) a Chief Engineering Instructor (d) Flying instructors (e) Ground instructors (f) Engineering instructors and (g) Flight Operations Instructors.[6] At that time the school had nine training aircraft. By May 2018, nine pilot-trainees, seven aircraft maintenance engineers and fourteen flight operations officers had completed training during the calendar year. Another fifteen pilots, fifteen flight operations engineers and five aircraft maintenance engineers were expected to graduate during the second half of 2018.[6]

History

EACAA was founded in September 1971 under the Directorate of Civil Aviation of the EAC. The government of Uganda, the East African Community (EAC), the United Nations Development Programme, and the International Civil Aviation Organization were the major contributors.[7]

When the first EAC collapsed in 1977, the Ugandan government took over the management and maintenance of the school.[8] In 2012, the government began the process of returning the school to the EAC.[9]

In late 2013, the Ugandan government entered into preliminary discussions with Integra, a private Danish aviation company, to improve and manage the school at international standards under a public-private-partnership (PPP) arrangement. Discussions at the Ugandan cabinet level have also been held about returning the school to the EAC.[10]

In 2014, the EAC Council of Ministers agreed to take it back.[9] On 3 July 2014, the presidents of Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda agreed in principle to re-instate the EACAA as one of the centres of excellence in the EAC.[11]

However, due to the failure of partner states to remit operational and development funds to the school, the Ugandan Cabinet, in March 2019, formally resolved to take over the ownership and management of the academy.[12]

It is expected that the academy will expand its training programs to include pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers from (a) UPDF Air Force (b) Uganda National Airlines Company (c) Uganda Police Air Wing (d) Ugandan Presidential Fleet (e) Commercial and General aviation. This would save Uganda millions of dollars in foreign exchange, currently spent on procuring this training outside the country.[12]

See also

References
  1. Turyamubona, Ronald (2 April 2019). "Notice From East African Aviation Academy: Admissions For May Intake 2019". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  2. Among, Salume (5 November 2013). "Soroti Flying School Certificate of Airworthiness Expires". Kampala: Uganda Radio Network (URN). Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  3. The Independent (26 March 2019). "Gov't to take over Soroti flying school ahead of Uganda Airlines relaunch". The Independent (Uganda). Kampala. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  4. GFC (12 February 2016). "Distance between Entebbe International Airport, Entebbe, Central Region, Uganda and Soroti Airport, Soroti, Eastern Region, Uganda". Globefeed.com (GFC). Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  5. Google (6 September 2015). "Location of Soroti Flying School" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  6. Aine, Kim (17 May 2018). "Uganda Unveils National Airline Masterplan; Shops for 6 Aircrafts [sic]". Kampala: Chimp Reports Uganda. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  7. EACAA (12 February 2016). "East African Civil Aviation Academy: History". Soroti: East African Civil Aviation Academy (EACAA). Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  8. Ssalongo, Joe Elunya (27 June 2011). "Soroti Flying School Students Live in Lodges Amid Accomodation [sic] Glitches". Kampala: Uganda Radio Network (URN). Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  9. Asiimwe, Dicta (2 August 2014). "Kampala seeking to return broke aviation school to EAC". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  10. Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi (23 December 2013). "Government, Private Company In Talks To Redevelop Soroti Flying School". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  11. Ihucha, Adam (5 September 2015). "EAC Reclaims Soroti Flying School". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  12. Damali Mukhaye (27 March 2019). "Government Takes Over Soroti Flying School". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 27 March 2019.

01°43′15″N 33°37′03″E

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