Start-up Uganda Airlines will open its first routes before the end of August after being cleared to fly by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The state-owned carrier has been awarded an air operator’s certificate (AOC), which was officially handed over at the company’s annual meeting on 29 July 2019.
The first routes from Entebbe International Airport are earmarked to begin on 28 August. Commercial director Jennifer Bamuturaki said the first phase would link Entebbe with Nairobi, Dar-es Salaam, Mogadishu, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa, Bujumbura and Juba.
“Then we have many more routes that we’re going to do in the second phase,” she added. They include service to Kigali, Goma, Lusaka, Harare and Johannesburg.
Uganda Airlines currently has two Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft in its fleet, with two more due to arrive in September. They will operate in a two-class, 76-seat configuration, with 12 business class and 64 economy seats.
It also has two Airbus A330-800neos on order, which it intends to use to build its international long-haul network. The aircraft will feature a three-class cabin layout comprising 20 business, 28 premium economy and 213 economy seats.