Uganda Airlines

Uganda Airlines[lower-alpha 1] (IATA: UR, ICAO: UGD) is the flag carrier of Uganda. The company is a revival[14] of the older Uganda Airlines which operated from 1977 until 2001.[15][16] It began flying in August 2019.[17]

This article is about the airline that started flying in 2019. For the previous airline, see Uganda Airlines (1976–2001)
Not to be confused with Air Uganda.

Uganda Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
UR UGD CRESTED
Founded30 January 2018 (2018-01-30)
Commenced operations28 August 2019 (2019-08-28)[1][2]
Hubs
Fleet size6[3][4][5][6][7]
Destinations10[8][9]
Parent companyGovernment of Uganda
HeadquartersEntebbe, Wakiso District, Uganda
Key people
Websitewww.ugandairlines.com

Location

The company headquarters are located within Entebbe International Airport, in Wakiso District, approximately 34 kilometres (21 mi), by road, south of the central business district of Kampala, the capital and largest city in Uganda.[18]

History

Following studies and wide consultations, the Cabinet of Uganda, opted to re-launch Uganda Airlines,[19] with six new jets, two of which will be the wide-body, long-range A330-800 and the other four being CRJ900 aircraft.[20] The studies recommended an equity investment by the government of approximately US$70 million and loans totaling US$330 million, borrowed from regional lenders, such as the Trade and Development Bank, to complete the purchase.[21]

In May 2018, The EastAfrican reported that the Ugandan government, had made a small monetary deposit on each of the six aircraft, while it concludes final financing arrangements. The first batch of CRJ900 aircraft was expected in November 2018, while the delivery of the A330-800 planes was expected in December 2020.[22]

As of 19 March 2019, according to Ephraim Bagenda, the company's chief executive at the time, 12 pilots and 12 co-pilots (total of 24 cockpit crew), all of them Ugandans, had completed their training and certification on the CRJ900-ER aircraft. The first two regional jets were expected in Uganda in April 2019. The third jet was scheduled for delivery in July 2019 and the fourth CRJ900 was expected in September 2019. Between April and June 2019, the airline planned to obtain an Air operator's certificate (AOC) from the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority and start operations by 30 June 2019.[23] On 8 April 2019, the expected delivery date for the first two jets (5X-EQU and 5X-KOB) was reported as Tuesday 23 April 2019.[24][25][26]

In April 2019, the delivery of the first Bombardier CRJ900 was confirmed as 23 April 2019 and that of the first Airbus A330-800 as the first half of 2021.[27]

On 27 July 2019, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority awarded Uganda National Airlines Company with an Air Operator Certificate, finalizing a five-step, three-month certification process that cleared the airline to commence commercial operations.[28] On 2 August 2019, the airline announced the launch date as the 28th of the same month, with flights to Nairobi, Mogadishu, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa and Bujumbura.[8]

On the morning of 28 August 2019, Uganda Airlines had its first commercial flight from Entebbe to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) with eight passengers on board.[17]

On 13 November 2019, Uganda Airlines launched the first flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport; thereby completing the first phase of operations to seven routes which was started with flights to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport nearly three months earlier.[29]

On 16 December 2019, Uganda Airlines commenced regular commercial passenger service to Zanzibar in Tanzania. The three-times-weekly service, brings the airline's destinations to eight in the second phase of route expansion.[30]

On 1 October 2020, after a six-months pause in scheduled passenger service, due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Uganda Airlines resumed scheduled passenger service, in a phased manner. On that day, the airline's hub, Entebbe International Airport that had been closed to passenger traffic since March 2020, was opened for resumed passenger service.[31]

On 18 December 2020, Uganda Airlines launched commercial flights to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The three times weekly operation increases the airline's expanding network to nine.[32]

Destinations
Main article: List of Uganda Airlines destinations

It is expected that when Kabaale International Airport is completed in 2021, a network of flights to local, regional and international destinations, will be developed around the new airport.[33]

With the two A330-800 aircraft expected in December 2020 and January 2021, Uganda Airlines is expected to start flights to Europe, Asia and the Middle East during the first quarter of 2021.[34] The intercontinental and intracontinental destinations under consideration include: Heathrow Airport, Dubai International Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Mumbai International Airport, airports in West Africa and airports in Southern Africa.[35][36]

In October 2020, it was reported that Uganda Airlines had received regulatory approval to begin scheduled passenger service to South Africa.[37][38]

Fleet

As of February 2021, the airline operates the following aircraft:[22][20] The aircraft were procured new from Airbus in Europe and Bombardier Aerospace in Canada.[39][40]

Uganda Airlines fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
C P Y Total
Airbus A330-841 2[7][41] — 20 28 210 258
Bombardier CRJ900ER 4[6][42] — 12 — 64 76
Total 6 —

In February 2019, the first of four CRJ900 aircraft that Uganda Airlines had ordered, took her first test flight with the livery of the new airline.[43] On 29 March 2019, the Ugandan parliament approved a request by the Ugandan government for USh280 billion (approx. US$76 million), to pay for the first two CRJ900s, expected to arrive in Uganda in April 2019.[44]

The third and fourth CRJ900 aircraft were delivered during the middle of October 2019, according to the Uganda Ministry of Works and Transport.[45] On 5 October 2019, the third and fourth CRJ900s, 5X–KDP and 5X–KNP left Montreal, Canada on their delivery journey to Entebbe, Uganda,[46][47] landing there on 7 October 2019.[6]

On 8 April 2019, the airline firmed up its order for two A330-841s.[27] On 16 October 2020, the first of two A330-841s that the airline ordered, registration number 5X-NIL, left the paint shop at Toulouse, France, with the livery of the airline. Delivery of the first aircraft took place on 21 December 2020.[37][38][48][49]

On that date, Airbus handed over the first of two A330-841s that the airline ordered in 2018, to a delegation of Ugandan government officials, led by General Katumba Wamala, the then Ugandan Minister of Works and Transport. A team of Ugandan pilots flew the aircraft, registration number 5X-NIL from Toulouse, France to Entebbe, Uganda on 22 December 2020, as flight number UR404.[3][50]

On 2 February 2021 the second of two A330-841s, registration number 5X-CRN was delivered from Toulouse, France to Entebbe, Uganda as flight number UR406, bringing the airline's fleet count to six aircraft.[51]

Governance

The airline is governed by a seven-person board of directors, including the following:[10][52][53]

  1. Godfrey Perez Ahabwe (Economist): Chairperson
  2. Benon Kajuna (Transport economist): Representing the Uganda Ministry of Works and Transport
  3. Godfrey Ssemugooma: Representing the Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
  4. Catherine Asinde Poran: Independent, Non-Executive Director
  5. Rehema Mutazindwa: Independent, Non-Executive Director
  6. Charles Hamya: Independent, Non-Executive Director
  7. Stephen Aziku Zua: Independent, Non-Executive Director.

Staff

In September 2018, the airline placed advertisements in the local print media for prospective airline staff, including directors for maintenance, engineering, commercial affairs and finance. Also corporate quality manager, human resource, ground operations, sales and marketing, cabin services and planning managers are being sought for recruitment. Pilots, cabin crew staff, ticketing officers, human resource officers, IT personnel, station managers and accountants are among the many available positions.[54] In February 2019, The Independent reported that a total of sixteen pilots of the twenty four that had been recruited were sent for training on the operation of the CRJ900 aircraft. Eight were sent to Mirabel, near Montreal, where the jets are assembled. Another eight were sent to a facility in France. When the airline becomes fully functional, a total of thirty-six pilots will have been recruited and trained.[55] As of April 2019, 200 staff positions of an estimated 400 vacancies had been filled.[56]

In October 2019, the airline's board of directors began a search for a new substantive chief executive officer. The then CEO, Ephraim Bagyenda, was reassigned to Director of Engineering and Maintenance. Cornwell Muleya, the airline's technical director, was appointed CEO, in an acting capacity.[57] As of July 2020, the search for a substantive CEO was ongoing. In the meantime, Cornwell Muleya's contract as acting CEO was extended to February 2021.[58]

Ownership

The airline is jointly owned by two Ugandan Cabinet Ministries; the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Ministry of Works and Transport, on a 50/50 basis.[11][59]

Associations and memberships

In September 2019, Uganda National Airlines Company Limited was admitted as a member of the African Airlines Association, (AFRAA).[60]

Notes
  1. The registered name of the company is Uganda National Airlines Company, but it trades as Uganda Airlines.[13]

References
  1. Frederic Musisi (22 July 2019). "Uganda Airlines Maiden Flight Pushed To August". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  2. Kampala Post Reporter (18 July 2019). "Uganda Airlines to Start Operations in August". Kampala Post. Kampala.
  3. Eddie Ssejjoba (21 December 2020). "Uganda receives first Airbus A330neo". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. Bombardier Commercial Aircraft (16 April 2019). "Bombardier Celebrates Delivery of First CRJ900 Aircraft to Uganda Airlines". GlobeNewswire. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  5. Sands, Glenn (17 April 2019). "Bombardier delivers first CRJ900 to Uganda Airlines". Mytchett, Surrey, United Kingdom: Hmgaerospace.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  6. Abubaker Lubowa (7 October 2019). "Uganda Receives Two More Bombardier CRJ 900 Jetliners". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  7. Luke Bodell (29 January 2021). "Uganda Airlines To Take Second Rare Airbus A330-841 On Tuesday". London, United Kingdom: Simple Flying. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  8. Jonathan Kamoga (3 August 2019). "Uganda Airlines Takes Off August 28". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  9. Sadab Kitatta Kaaya (2 January 2020). "Uganda Airlines, UTB collaborate to market Uganda". The Observer (Uganda). Kampala. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  10. Julian Ninsiima (7 June 2019). "Ugandans have high expectations for National Airline! Minister Azuba inaugurates Uganda Airlines Board of Directors". Kampala: PMLDaily.com. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  11. Dorothy Nakaweesi (11 October 2019). "Government in Search of New Uganda Airlines Boss". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
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  14. 18 Jul; On-Location, 2018 Mark Nensel | ATW. "Revived Uganda flag carrier orders CRJ900s, A330neos". atwonline.com. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
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