This week, we bring you a recap on the Top Ten (10) most important things in Uganda’s Tourism, the world of Aviation and Travel that have made rounds especially in this COVID-19 Era. As always, we will be giving you highlights that have made News rounds all through from start of the week till the End. Below are the highlights in precision.
01. UTB starts implementing Covid-19 SOP’s for Hoteliers as a road to recovery for the Tourism and Hospitality Sector – On Tuesday this week, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) started off a massive roll-out exercise to inspect Tourism facilities nationwide and to ensure all tourism and hospitality facilities comply to the Standard Operating Procedures for all visitors to their sites. The roll out plan started with Kampala’s Five star hotels including; Naguru Skyz Hotel and Golden Tulip Hotel in Nakasero, Kampala Uganda. The team will be visiting Entebbe Tourism facilities including sites and hotels on Wednesday June 24th 2020 before cross checking with other facilities all-round the different districts in Uganda under the board’s quality assurance program. To read more Click https://bit.ly/2YAV2iU
02. Kigali International Airport now open for Special charter and tourist flights – Following months long of International passenger flight suspension at Kigali International Airport (KIA) since March 2020 due to fear of fast spread of Coronavirus. Rwanda Airports Company last week announced the opening of general aviation at Kigali International Airport just days after Rwanda opened its tourism sector upon observing Standards of Procedures (SOPs) to limit the spread of the virus. General Aviation means tourist and special charter flights hence commercial passenger flights are still closed as communication on when they will restart will be passed out. To read more Click https://bit.ly/2VleFcN
03. KLM expects to operate 5,000 European flights in July – KLM has announced that it is gradually rebuilding its European and international route network. On June 20th, the Dutch airline shared that it hoped to build its capacity back up to over 75% in July with more services coming in August. It seems that for many airlines, the worst is over. After a few months of debilitated schedules and parked fleets, many of the world’s air carriers are seeing their programs pick up. Many are still limited in exactly where they can fly. However, for Dutch airline KLM, there is a suitable workaround. To read more Click https://bit.ly/385XKQg
04. Qatar Airways Eyes new First Class Cabin for some 777X Aircraft – Qatar Airways’ CEO, Akbar Al Baker, has said this week that he is studying an ultra-premium first class cabin for the airline’s forthcoming Boeing 777X aircraft. The new cabin will be installed on only a handful of the 777-9s it has on order and will be used to fly premium-heavy routes into Europe. To read more Click https://bit.ly/2B396sA
05. EgyptAir seeks $185 Million bailout from National Banks – Egyptian, National airline EgyptAir has been losing almost $200m a month since it was grounded in mid-March. Now, it is seeking a loan of $185m from state-owned banks to help it survive the crisis. Egypt is planning to open to tourists from next month, but will people go?
As with every other airline in the world, EgyptAir has been suffering due to the travel downturn. And just like so many other airlines, it is now seeking assistance for its state to survive the current crisis. To read more Click https://bit.ly/2NAg6zq
06. Flydubai reactivates flights to 24 Cities in phased destination routes resumption – flydubai will start operating passenger flights from 7 July after the UAE suspended services at the end of March in response to coronavirus. The government announced this week that tourists will be able to visit Dubai from 7 July. To read more Click https://bit.ly/2Za25Op
07. Turkish Airlines poses as ‘Busiest Flights Operator in Europe’ – Turkish Airlines was the busiest operator in Europe last week after resuming domestic and international passenger operations. Airlines have started to resume service on some routes after weeks of being grounded by travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. To read more Click https://bit.ly/31vXB7R
08. Etihad Airways unveils new Covid-19 self-test tool – Etihad Airways is partnering Austrian-based healthcare technology company Medicus AI to launch a Covid-19 risk assessment tool that will empower guests to make informed decisions about travelling. Powered by Medicus AI’s technology, the risk assessment tool will guide Etihad’s guests in evaluating their probability of having contracted Covid-19 by responding to a set of 22 questions. The self-assessment, which takes less than five minutes to complete, is based on daily updated WHO guidelines. The tool will also contain advisories and recommendations. To read more Click https://bit.ly/3dIkF5L
09. Entebbe Zoo to resume operations come July – According to Musinguzi, the wildlife center has made huge losses throughout the lockdown period. This has been because no visitors were visiting the centre thus limited operations around the site. More so, the center could no longer get money from gate-collection. To read more Click https://bit.ly/2YxTAxI
10. Uganda Airlines pushes date for Repatriation Charter flights to 2 July – Among Airlines selected to offer passenger repatriation charter flights include Uganda Airlines which had initially scheduled its first return home flight for Ugandans stranded in South Africa on Thursday June 25th 2020 but later on pushed the flight to Wednesday July 2nd 2020 enroute Johannesburg (South Africa) to Entebbe (Uganda) flight while the Airlines looks forward to returning more citizens back home across the region. To read more Click https://bit.ly/3g1MaIK
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