Due to the ongoing worldwide lock down on most human activities, this week has majorly been on a low as regards Uganda’s tourism, world of Aviation and travel. Most of the activities have been aimed at efforts to curb down the Covid-19 pandemic and support for most industries. As usual, at Guide2Uganda, we list down the top 10 most important things in Uganda’s Tourism, the world of Aviation and travel this week as earlier featured in our stories. In case you missed them, check them out bellow;
1. Ticket refunds to Cost Airlines $35 billion in Q2
Airlines will have to fork out $35 billion in ticket refunds in Q2 alone, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned.IATA has estimated that airlines could eat up $61 billion of their cash reserves during Q2 when the drop in demand for air travel is likely to be at its deepest at 71%. IATA says airlines could post a quarterly net loss of $39 billion for the second quarter of the year, which ends on 30 June 2020. For more details, check out at https://buff.ly/2yPRFKs
2. Visit Uganda Tomorrow: Experience the Country’s Natural Beauty after COVID-19 Pandemic
In this short Youtube Film, Ugandan Tourism Enthusiast, Jonathan Benaiah highlights through the different natural scenaries, Cultural diversity, Fun and Adventure in the wilderness of the most natural endowed travel destination – Uganda, while he cautions travelers to stay safe and stay home till we overcome the Coronavirus Pandemic that has hit hard the Tourism Industry. Watch and read more at https://buff.ly/39VAm7p
3. Bank of Uganda takes counter-check measure to mitigate COVID-19 uncertainty effects
In a bid to counter check advance uncertainty effects that could be caused by the current CoronaVirus disease economic crisis, Bank of Uganda reduced the Central Bank rate (CBR) by 1% difference to 8%. This was in line with the declining macroeconomic conditions set over by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide which have greatly affected trade and business. The central bank has took on this measure all in hope of ensuring suitable access to credit for normal functioning of the country’s financial markets and other forces that affect the general economics within the country. Read more at https://buff.ly/3e4cTUO
4. Turkish Airlines won’t Fly again until late April
While a number of airlines have completely shut down already, Turkish Airlines has had some scheduled operations still going. However, with the continued spread and worsening situation associated with COVID-19, the airline over the week shut down all of its regular international and domestic operations. According to the special COVID-19 page set up on the airline’s website, all flights were suspended as of midnight of Saturday, April 4th. This decision was made, ’’ in accordance with the decisions taken by the authorities of the Republic of Turkey and to protect the public health from novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic” the airline states. For more information, visit https://buff.ly/3e9Pe5F
5. Ethiopian Airlines Furloughs Crew as Virus Crisis affects African Aviation
Ethiopian Airlines recently became the latest airline to ask her employees to take unpaid leave. The request came on as the Airlines reported its first employee death from COVID-19. In addition, the airline is thought to be terminating the contracts of temporary employees. Permanent staff members are being asked to take all their annual leave and up to 90 days of unpaid leave. Read more here; https://buff.ly/2VkIHw6
6. Uber suspends her services in Uganda upon COVID-19 crackdown directives
In a bid to combat the spread and prevalence of the deadly CoronaVirus disease, the government of Uganda passed out a couple of preventive directives. The directives affected most businesses including the transport industry giants, Uber. The company had to halt their operations until further notice. This was in line with the presidential directive restricting the movement of both private and public vehicles. The decision by the company took effect on the 31st of March. This means there will be no advance operations of Uber with in Uganda until the ban is called off. Read more about this here; https://buff.ly/34shRGU
7. Formerly stranded Tourists repatriated from Uganda amid travel ban
Following a total ban by the government of Uganda on all passenger flights and cross boarder movements, no one has been allowed in and out of the country over the past few weeks. However, over the weekend, more than 250 international tourists and visitors from 20 different countries flew out from Entebbe international airport to Cologne on a repatriation flight organized by German foreign office. Find out more at https://buff.ly/3caTUGH
8. Brussels Airlines extends the temporary suspension of its flights until 15 May
Originally planned to recommence operations by April 20th 2020, Brussels Airlines had to delay the restart of its operations to 15 May. “Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures. The worldwide Coronavirus crisis and the ongoing travel restrictions imposed by many countries around the world, oblige Brussels Airlines to review the restart of its operations,” the airline wrote in a press release. Aiming at a stable flight offer as soon as the operations will resume, Brussels Airlines is at present working on a reduced network responding to the needs of business and leisure travellers. Read more at; https://buff.ly/3a0f9tb
9. Emirates SkyCargo to operate Bi-weekly flights to Entebbe International Airport
Emirates SkyCargo will continue to operate cargo flights to Entebbe International Airport thereby facilitating the movement of goods during these uncertain times. The Airline will operate two weekly cargo flights every Friday and Sunday and these will touch down at the airport at 14:00hrs and depart at 16:00hrs. The airline has deployed a Boeing 777 wide-body passenger aircraft for its cargo operations on the Entebbe route. Read more about this story here; https://buff.ly/2XwIzfI
10. KLM Airlines returns the boeing 747 out of retirement for Cargo flights
Avgeeks around the world were sad last month as KLM Airlines operated its final Boeing 747 flight. The airline intended to retire the aircraft early due to the current crisis. However, KLM has already backtracked bringing two Boeing 747 combis back into service.For a long time, we
knew that KLM would retire the Boeing 747 from its fleet in 2021. However, many were saddened to learn that the type would instead meet a speedy end towards end of March. Find out more at https://buff.ly/2Xl5k6u
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