Uganda Airlines approaches top of climb with new services to Abuja, Harare and Lusaka

July 17, 2024 in Companies, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Flag carrier Uganda Airlines Wednesday said it will be commencing services to Abuja, Lusaka and Harare in the coming weeks, a major expansion of the route network that also concludes its initial ramp-up plan.

Abuja launches September 12, 2024, followed by Lusaka and Harare starting September 25. Officials said the new services will support revenue growth, improve fleet utilization and primes the carrier for planned expansion into Europe and Asia.

“The entry into these markets is meant to build an efficient an optimised regional market which will feed and finance a more profitable long-haul market; grow the aircraft fleet utilisation, create a robust regional network that will serve as a feeder for the Uganda Airlines’ long-haul market, especially London, Mumbai, Guangzhou and Dubai and most importantly support Uganda Airline’s Africa network connectivity,” chief executive Jenifer Bamuturaki told a media briefing in Kampala.

The new routes expand the network to 16 destinations, 14 of them in Africa, one in the Middle East and another to Mumbai, India.

“Launching these routes marks the successful conclusion of our 3-year strategic plan, paving the way for the next phase of our 10-year rolling plan. This strategic approach ensures that our expansion is not just a leap of faith but a well-thought-out progression,” said chief executive Jenifer Bamuturaki.

Abuja, which will be an extension of the current 3x service to Lagos, will be served twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays. Lusaka and Harare will be served four times a week in a triangulated operation that will see outbound flights alternate between Entebbe-Lusaka-Harare-Entebbe on two days and

The move which lifts the carrier’s destinations from 13 to 16, forms part of a strategy to tap into some of Africa’s most under-served markets. It is also expected to add to efficiencies by generating a network effect, in which the new services feed traffic into existing flights indirect traffic that will feed into other destinations.

Responding to skeptics, Bamuturaki said besides exploiting the existing connectivity gaps, the new flights are expected to stimulate new traffic which will contribute to their viability.

“Our aspiration is to bridge the geographical gaps and connect the East to the West, North and South of Africa. This vision guides our route expansion, which is informed by feasibility studies pointing us to underserved routes,” Bamuturaki said.

Uganda Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Adedayo Olawuyi, says Abuja’s central location in Nigeria, will make the service attractive to travellers from the country’s northern states, who will now have shorter flights out of Nigeria. Three quarters of international airlines flying to Nigeria prefer to land in the commercial capital, Lagos, leaving a huge connectivity gap in Abuja.

Adedayo added that the new services will improve aircraft utilisation, taking average daily flying time of the CRJ fleet to 9.6 hours and the Airbus A330-800s to 8 hours.