Uganda Airlines postpones its expansion plans
Uganda Airlines has postponed its expansion plans to the end of the year, citing Covid-19 travel restrictions on its new destinations.
The airline, which flies regional routes such as Kinshasa, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Mogadishu and Kilimanjaro, planned to start long haul trips by July. The new destinations include Europe, India, China and the Middle East. The expansion plans have now been rescheduled to September and December.
Uganda is currently facing a second wave of the virus, and two of its intended destinations have banned direct flights from the country. These countries are the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
The airline had earlier targeted four destinations – Mumbai, London, Dubai, and Guangzhou.
According to The EastAfrican, an airline official said they could not fly to Dubai in July as scheduled because Uganda is part of the UAE’s red list. Flights to Dubai have therefore been moved to September.
Meanwhile, flights to Heathrow London will begin in December after the UK reviews its red list.
In the case of flying to Mumbai, the airline is waiting for the government to lift the ban on direct flights between Entebbe and India. On Guangzhou, both Uganda and China are still in talks to sign bilateral air agreements that allow the airline to land in China. Uganda has signed bilateral air service agreements with about 47 countries around the world.
Uganda Airlines is currently running a four-craft fleet of bombardier CRJ900 aircrafts. The airline recently added two new Airbus A330-800 aircraft to its fleet to complete the first phase of its revival.
According to authorities, it is these new additions that will ply the long haul routes. However, a delay in issuing an air operating licence to these two aircraft by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority has kept them grounded.
