About 2 years ago, Uganda received two Bombardier CRJ900 jets marking the official comeback for the East African country’s national carrier. It’s on record that the country’s Uganda Airlines hit the air traffic in August 2019 for the first time since 2001.
Uganda Airlines begins the effort to return to its former glory and the Ugandan Government has invested heavily in this infrastructure.
Two years up in the air, the country’s fleet is now six-craft strong, including its newest acquisition of two brand-new A330neo commercial aircraft from Airbus, the second of which was received in February 2021.
According to management at Uganda Airlines, they are now ready to launch non-stop intercontinental flights and is expected to commence with Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Adventure Consults sales team has learnt that the airline has been accorded five flights a week to London Heathrow and six to Dubai’s DXB which will most definitely be assessed for business viability.
The flights are expected to begin by May 2021. This will obviously depend on when the United Kingdom, which currently still has a series of travel restrictions, lifts barriers on non-essential travel in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The good news is that the airline’s management has taken the process of attaining the necessary clearances and certifications for the A330-800 fleet by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority and they should only wait to rise to the skies on their maiden journeys in the summer. This process is expected to be finalized by April 2021.
It is obviously expected that along the London route, Uganda Airlines will see little competition. Entebbe, where the country’s international airport is found, is at the moment served by nine other airlines on this 4,029-mile journey, although all are connecting flights. The launch of the Uganda Airline’s route would thus introduce the only non-stop flight out of Uganda to London.
Authorities have forecasted that Uganda Airlines would offer night departures out of Entebbe, while the return leg would depart London Heathrow mid-morning. Planned arrival time at Heathrow has been hinted to be 6:45 AM and departure at 9:00 AM
The other planned destinations that Uganda Airlines hopes to support are Guangzhou in China and Mumbai in India in one of its brand-new aircraft.
Adventure Consults’ travel planners are excited about the new developments and will definitely keep you updated on the Uganda Airlines schedules and how best to fit with the tailored luxury trips to the Pearl Of Africa.
The airline has also just recently signed a TotalCare agreement with aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce for its new A330neo aircraft, committing to its cause towards very steady growth. This means that Rolls-Royce would be tasked with managing the airlines’ A330neo Trent 7000 engines’ maintenance to world-leading levels of service.
The Entebbe Airport-based airline is also looking to grow its regional network to 11 destinations with the addition of flights to Johannesburg in South Africa and Lusaka in Zambia.
Other cities on the list include Harare, Khartoum, Addis Ababa, Lagos, Accra, Goma, Lubumbashi
A little more about the new aircrafts;
Uganda Airline’s aircraft bodies feature a three-cabin configuration with 20 lie-flat business-class seats in a 1-2-1 arrangement, 28 premium economy seats adding to 210 economy seats for a total capacity of 258 seats.
“Mood lighting, the latest inflight entertainment system, the quietest cabin in its category and a wellness advanced HEPA filter air that will be renewed every 2-3 minutes, adding to an aircraft that burns 25% less fuel per seat than previous generation competitors”; are some of many attractive claims made by the airline’s management.
“Thanks to its tailored, mid-sized capacity and its excellent range versatility, the A330neo which Uganda Airlines procured to serve the non-stop routes is considered the ideal aircraft to operate as part of the post-COVID-19 recovery,” Airbus, the world’s largest airliner manufacturer wrote.
Good news also reached Adventure Consult’s team that Ch-Aviation, an aviation information provider founded in 1998 on Tuesday 16th March recognized Uganda’s national carrier as the winner of the World’s Youngest Aircraft fleet 2021; a recognition for keeping a new, modern and efficient fleet using new generations of aircraft that contribute significantly to the decrease of CO2 and greenhouse emissions.
we are elated and believes that the addition of long-haul flights will easen the connection to Uganda thus making it easy to tailor make your unique safari experiences – www.adventureconsults.com