Uganda Airlines to be revived with the purchase of new bombardier and Airbus A 330 800neos aircrafts

Uganda Airlines to be revived with the purchase of new aircraft

Uganda Airlines has ordered four Bombardier CRJ900s and agreed to purchase two Airbus A330-800neos seventeen years after it ceased operations, according to the Bombardier’s announcement, issued from Montreal, Uganda Airlines’ CRJ900 order was valued at about $190 million. These new aircraft will be configured with 12 first class and 64 economy class seats, and will be the first CRJs in Africa. 

Kenya Airways aircraft's and other airlines have dominated the airport and not even one visible aircraft among all aircraft's parked at Entebbe airport belonged to Uganda.

However, what was even more surprising and disturbing was being able to see more than seven large Airbus A330-200 80-seater and even bigger A330-300 Airbus 274 seater aircraft's as well as 767 Boeing aircraft's covered with the Rwandan flag being boarded by different passengers flying to different airports within Africa, Johannesburg in South Africa, Europe, Asia and other long-haul flights destinations around the world.

It seems that Uganda is waking up to the reality of losing an extension of the high revenue earner tourism market being the airline travel industry. Hence Uganda started re-entry plans back to the lucrative airline business by placing orders with Canadian Jet manufacturers Bombardier Commercial for the CRJ9 Bombardiers 90-seater and A339 aircraft's at a cost of Shs 700 billion total .

The planed destination routes for the Uganda Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 are anticipated to include Nairobi, Kigali, Bujumbura and Juba, among others. And the irony of the recent interests Uganda has expressed in reviving Uganda airlines almost seem scandalous, and no wonder it is only now, after almost 18 years since the collapse of the airline industry that steps are being taken to revive it.
Since tourism over the last few years has been Uganda’s highest revenue earner, the government had not realized that avoiding the collapse of Uganda Airlines in 2001 would have long term consequences.

Uganda Airlines by now would have been the most successful airline in Africa as a natural extension of an equally successful tourism industry of which it is interlinked.

Since the government made a fateful decision not to protect the airline from collapse and created a vacuum for her neighbors to occupy and financially benefit over the years.

The re-entry of Uganda Airlines will not be simple and straight forward without a fight. Some of the speculators and competitors may not wish for it to happen and hence making it risky for some tourists to come to Uganda as a way of protecting business interests.