Capt. Thomas’ final flight on November 30, 2024, brought down the curtain on 41 years of dedicated service in the aviation industry, The Senior Training Captain retires with a wide international experience gained from Cranfield, the Royal Navy, Airtours, BMED, NAS, Etihad, and finally, Uganda Airlines.
"We are five years now and you know this is a heavily capital-intensive type of industry. We are not yet profitable, but the growth trajectory is we should be profitable in about 10 years time," says Rubombora.
UR will operate three flights a week from Entebbe for both Mumbai and Lagos, while the landing rights secured in China in June last year could see it start with one weekly flight to Guangzhou
“I was on the Uganda Airlines flight to Johannesburg this morning...I found it curious that the passengers were engaged over the speakers in English and Afrikaans...yes, Afrikaans! What happened to Swahili or Luganda or Acholi,” a passenger questioned.
For example, there was a growth of 18.93 percent in the numbers recorded in October 2022 up from the same month last year, while between November 2021 and November 2022, the passenger numbers grew by 14 percent.
The South African authorities say that the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority treats them unfairly, not in the same manner that Uganda Airlines is treated in Johannesburg, especially regarding the high airline charges at Entebbe and the lengthy certification process.
The Uganda Airlines board members have asked Parliament to lock out the media from covering further probes against the company as a safeguard to bad press that may endanger its future prospects.
The Airline carried 77,355 passengers for the year ended June 2020, registering a shortfall of 10 per cent from its target of 85,760 passengers. This also meant that predicted income of 31.5 billion Shillings was not attained, and instead, the airline generated 25.2 billion Shillings. However, the airline made an additional 14.8 billion Shillings from 26,394 passengers at the end of December 2020.
The list of countries where Tanzania, a key partner in the East African Community, is not named has, however, instigated fights in the region. The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority has consequently banned Kenya Airways from flying to Dar Es Salaam.
In a promotional video, Cornwell Muleya, the company acting CEO, said they hope to receive the wide body aircraft by December, a slight delay from the earlier plan of October 2020 – consequently pushing the start of international flights to next year.
Abbavater has been Uganda Airlines brand and communications agency since April 2019, when the airline was officially launched and brought in the first two planes. But the company’s employees have not been paid for the month of February and March.
“Following the spread of COVID-19 and the control measures put in place by various countries to contain its spread; In compliance with health and safety guidelines, operational requirements and regulatory obligations, we wish to communicate changes to flight operations,” reads a statement on the website of Uganda Airlines.
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga says that since the Uganda Airlines is now operational, it was important for the Parliamentary Commission to support the National Carrier.
Among the first brands on the national carrier is Uganda Waragi, a local gin made by Uganda Breweries Limited. The gin is classified as a hard drink by the airline.
The airline, which took off from Entebbe Airport at 6:05 a.m touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport -JKIA at exactly 7 a.m, five minutes ahead of the scheduled landing.
Businessman Peter Ssenkungu said that he chose to fly Uganda Airlines because he had planned a trip to Nairobi and the airline gave a good bargain. Ssenkungu who travels to Nairobi at least twice a month said that his decision to use the newly revamped national carrier was to give back to his country.
Uganda has already received two planes and two more are expected in September 2019. But last month, Bombardier, the company which sold Uganda the first planes, sold its Canadair regional jet program to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in a deal that includes maintenance and global support facilities from the Canadian aerospace firm.
