The Mission on Wednesday said the head of Uganda’s national
carrier was in London less than a week ago and held meetings with the UK
aviation authorities.
“A team from Uganda Airlines led by the CEO Ms Jenifer
Bamuturaki, was in the UK from 11 – 15 June 2024 for meetings with UK aviation
authorities, the business community and the Uganda Diaspora in preparation for
the upcoming launch of direct flights between Entebbe – London,” the Uganda
High Commission in London announced.
Uganda Airlines secured slots for departures and landing at
London Heathrow Airport after receiving its two Airbus A330-800 Neo aircrafts
in December 2020 and February 2021.
However, the national carrier has not made any trips to the
UK.
There have been reports that the delay of Uganda Airlines to
fly to the United Kingdom and ultimately the European Region who are governed
by the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority and European Aviation Safety
Agency respectively, was caused by the lack of an updated certification status.
Aviation Development Chief Analyst, James Pearson recently
said over 84,000 passengers flew on Entebbe-London flight on a two-way
point-to-point basis in 2019, “making Entebbe the second largest unserved
market from Africa to London.”
The move by Uganda’s Airliner to begin direct flights to
Europe comes less than a year after it launched direct flights to Asia and West
Africa.
On October 7, 2023, Uganda Airlines launched direct flight
to India’s financial capital, Mumbai which it serves three times a week.
The route, first promised two years ago, is Uganda Airlines
12th destination and the second off the African mainland.
After the Mumbai launch, Uganda Airlines also launched
direct flights to Lagos, Nigeria.
Uganda Airlines currently operates flights to Dubai,
Johannesburg, Bujumbura, Nairobi, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam,
Kilimanjaro, Juba, Kinshasa and Mogadishu, Mumbai, and Lagos.