Soroti Flying School also known as East African Civil Aviation Academy 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 Organisation were the major contributors.

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

In 2014, the EAC Council of Ministers agreed to take it back. 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.