Yesterday, 04/10/2021, Uganda’s national carrier, Uganda airlines took to the skies and made its maiden trip to Dubai, the long awaited and first intercontinental flight for the carrier since it was reinstated two years ago.
According to the Airline’s officials, the destination is popular with Ugandan travellers who go there mostly for business and leisure and they look forward to gaining more from the advancement given that Dubai is a lucrative route.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Dubai was one of the most preferred destinations and remains a popular route for most Ugandan travellers, according to Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).
“The UAE, and most especially Dubai, is important for both the formal and informal trade for Uganda. So we hope to tap into that demand for traders travelling to the middle and Far East,” an official at the airline said.
The official added that considering Dubai’s strategic location, Uganda Airlines hopes to tap into the connectivity that the destination offers into Europe, the far West and Far East through signing interline agreements with bigger players operating in Dubai.
“Our Interline agreement with Emirates opens up opportunities for the traveller on Uganda Airlines to fly to any Emirates destination while also generating opportunities in East, Central and Southern Africa,” the official noted.
Last month, the UAE took Uganda off its Red List, allowing the airline to proceed with plans to fly to Dubai.
According to the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, 5,800 passengers were flying from Entebbe to Dubai every month by 2017. The number is believed to have increased, according to spokesman Mr Vianney Lugya.
For months, the airline has been planning to embark on long haul routes to destinations like to Guangzhou, Dubai, London and Mumbai after it acquired two bigger Airbus A330neo crafts but a series of issues made it postpone its plans to between October this year and early next year.
Initially, the airline had not acquired the Air Operating Certificate (AOC) for its new two Airbus crafts from the regulator, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, which left the two crafts grounded at Entebbe Airport. The Airline got the AOC early last month.
Currently, the airline plies regional routes to Dar es Salaam, Juba, Kilimanjaro, Mogadishu, Mombasa, Nairobi and Zanzibar. Others are Harare, Kinshasa and Johannesburg.
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