Uganda airlines is set to fly to Kigali, Harare, Johannesburg, Zanzibar and Lusaka in a bid to catch up with the regional airlines .
The revelation was made by the airline’s Commercial Director, Jennifer Bamuturaki.
On august 27th, Uganda Airlines made its maiden flight to Jomo Kenyatta international airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, Kenya, a month after being granted Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from Uganda civil aviation authority (UCAA). The company however commenced its commercial flights on the 28th august 2019.
The current flights include; Nairobi, Juba twice daily, Mogadishu three times daily, Dar-es-Salaam and Kilimanjaro once a day, Bujumbura and Mombasa thrice a week with two monthly promotional fares of Nairobi Return US$ 278, Juba Return US$ 225, Mogadishu Return US$ 590, Dar Return US$ 286, Bujumbura Return US$ 292, Mombasa Return US$ 325, Kilimanjaro Return USD 311 inclusive of taxes. But the passengers can pay in Ugandan currency as well.
Speaking at monthly media engagement held at Golden tulip hotel, Bamuturaki said in October, the company will receive two more Aircraft and this will expand their route map.
“We shall be flying three times a day from Monday to Friday and twice a day every Saturday and Sunday. We shall fly to Lusaka, Johannesburg, Zanzibar and Kigali coming online.” She said. Adding that the Airline will ensure on time departures and have strict avoidance of flight delays.
“We have ensured our offices are branded with our tourist attractions. We have billboards showing Uganda as home of gorillas because neighboring countries have been advertising them for us,” she said
She clarified that one jets wasn’t grounded due to mechanical glitches, it had been parked for 90 days. Before takeoff, fully automated computers alerted captain for reboot and trouble shoot it. Flight was delayed by about 6-7 hours.
“Every electronic that is grounded for more than a month without being used needs to be serviced, this is the same happening with the Plane that had been grounded for 90 days without use and the day of it was supposed to be flown it was delayed by 7 hours,” she said
She said they are on course to introduce domestic flights, “the aerodrones and airports have been rundown over the years and are still undergoing development. We shall discuss with domestic players to have interlines so that we feed them with our passengers,” She added.
Bamuturaki said they will soon have a unit that sells holidays in different destinations. The airline will also internally handle the cargo function which is currently outsourced.
Established in May 1976, Uganda Airlines, started operations in 1977 and was liquidated in May 2001 after efforts to privatize the company failed due to massive debts it had incurred.
Its revival now means Uganda Airlines will have to compete with Africa’s best such as Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways, RwandAir and others on the continent, not forgetting International ones such as Emirates Airways, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airways among others that land at Entebbe International Airport.
