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London, (UK): Uganda’s flagship national carrier, the Uganda Airlines, will soon take direct flights to London, the Uganda High Commission in London, UK has announced.
According to the Mission, Airlines CEO, Ms Jennifer Bamuturaki for the last week pitched camp in London and held meetings with the UK aviation authorities for strategies for having Uganda’s aircrafts take routes to the European country.
“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 said in a Wednesday statement.
The statement further acknowledged that 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.
But, 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 flights 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.