Uganda Airlines is securing a direct flight to the UK

Uganda Airlines is set to start an international direct flight from Gatwick Airport, London. The airline is recruiting a station and country manager in London, as it finalizes plans to fly from Gatwick Airport, which it secured earlier this year. The national carrier will have 4 weekly scheduled flights to operate between Entebbe and London Gatwick.

Uganda Airlines will use its A330-800 and operate from Gatwick’s South Terminal. Gatwick became a priority for the airline after failing to secure Heathrow slots. Gatwick was confirmed after they completed ICAO safety audits.

Uganda Airlines fleet currently comprises four CRJ900LRs and two Airbus A330-800neos; they have now also wet-leased an Airbus A320-200 from South Africa’s Global Airways to boost long distance routes. Reports indicate that the airline is already in discussions with Boeing for the acquisition of two 787-800 Dreamliners to augment long haul capacity as well as a 737-800 freighter to boost cargo capacity in the short term.

Shareholders have also approved the leasing of two Airbus A320s, to replace the A330s on medium range routes such as Dubai. In the interim, this would free capacity, allowing the launch of London and Guangzhou, which cannot be served within the current fleet limitations.Whilst the inaugural flight date is pending final certifications from UK and European aviation authorities, anticipation is high for this step in Ugandan aviation.

Currently, the national carrier has direct routes covering bigger cities of Africa among which include; Abuja, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Harari, Johannesburg, Juba, Kilimanjaro, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lusaka, Mogadishu, Mombasa, Nairobi, Zanzibar, beyond Africa is Mumbai, and Dubai.

With the direct flights to London, it  means now tourists will be able to move directly to Uganda without first making stopovers in the neighboring countries. The pearl of Africa is popular known for gorilla trekking in which they are in direct competition with Rwanda. Given the commonwealth status of Uganda, it is also very easy for anyone from UK to self drive in Uganda given the fact that in both countries, they drive on the left.

Uganda was once the leading aviation center in Africa but due to its turbulent political history, the country declined in several fields including aviation. It is of recent that the country has revamped the national carrier after a continuous outcry from several stakeholders including the tours and travel industry that has challenges connecting people from all over the world to Uganda.