The national carrier of Uganda renewed flights after a gap of nearly two decades. It resumed commercial services on Tuesday. The flight was from Entebbe to Nairobi in neighboring Kenya. Idi Amin had started Uganda Airlines in 1977 but it suspended operations in 2001 due to financial problems. It is now in a turnaround mode and aims to exploit opportunities in a number of sectors like agriculture, minerals, Tourism and oil and gas. Monica Ntege Azuba, Uganda's minister of works and transport, has revealed this. Aerial transportation is the norm of today and proper planning will pay rich dividends.

CNN makes mention of the current and future plans. It has a fleet of twin-engined Bombardier CRJ-900. The airline will use these on nearby routes to connect with countries like Tanzania, Somalia, and South Sudan. Jennifer Bamuturaki is a senior official of the airline. She says there will be connectivity with far-flung destinations from September. The airline had planned to start operations in July but there were procedural delays.

Uganda is a travel destination

In recent times the international interest in Uganda as a travel destination has grown.

It offers national parks, beach resorts, and wildlife. Obviously, the country would want to tap the potentials of tourism for which there must be well-oiled machinery to meet Travel needs. Increase in passenger traffic will lead to improvements in different associated spheres and in turn, contribute to the country's national economy.

In its heyday, the airline covered eight destinations with a fleet of 15 aircraft.

CNN goes on to add that times have changed and the country has to keep pace with changing needs of those who opt for flights.

This means innovation and thinking out of the box. In the opinion of Vianney Luggya of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, Entebbe International Airport in Uganda could compete with Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya in terms of passengers. The gap right now is large but it could reduce. In order to capture the market and compete with the big regional players, it is running promotional fares. These will be for a limited period.

The fleet will get more aircraft

According to Business Daily Africa, Uganda Airlines is upbeat about its re-entry into commercial routes in a number of destinations. It will operate with the four Bombardier CRJ900 planes. Two of these arrived in April and two more could join the fleet by mid-September.

This is what Ephraim Bagenda, the CEO of the revived airline, said. An Airbus (A330 Neo) is waiting in the wings and will probably enter in another 18 months. This is a wide-body plane and it will give a boost to long-haul routes. As a part of its plans, Uganda is eyeing China and other Asian countries to exploit the potential of tourism.
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