A FULFILLED PROMISE: Excitement As Uganda airline Launches Maiden Flight to Abuja
Oru Leonard
Less than one year the Uganda Airlines started operations in Lagos, the 5 year old Aviation Company has kept to the promise of having a direct flight Abuja to Uganda.
Speaking on Thursday evening in Abuja while addressing journalists after the arrival of the maiden flight of the Ugandan Airlines to the nation’s capital, the The Ugandan Minister of State for Works and Transportation, Hon. Fred Byamukawa, expressed his excitement on fulfilling the promise made to introduce a direct flight to Abuja in one year. He said the said the interactions and relationships between Uganda led by President Yoweri Museveni and Nigeria will increase.
The Ugandan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Nelson Ocheger, noted that the newly launched Entebbe to Abuja direct flight will promote trade and services between his country and Nigeria.
He said it took the maiden flight three and a half hours from Entebbe to Abuja unlike in the past where same journey lasted about seven hours because of lack of direct flight to the country from Nigeria.
He also said the same journey was reduced to four and a half hours last year when the Uganda Airlines started the Entebbe to Lagos direct flight because Abuja passengers would spend one hour in Lagos before connecting the flight.
“It’s going to facilitate the movement of cargo particularly those ones that can be flown by air from Uganda to Nigeria and from Nigeria to Uganda.
“Once that happens, the volume of trade will certainly increase and the people who produce goods, and those providing services would benefit”, he noted.
He further said that the High Commissioner of Nigeria has started a conversation that should help his country to review all the existing frameworks that have expired between Uganda and Nigeria, adding that these include revisiting the agreements on drug and human trafficking.
The Director of Air Transport
Management, Mr. Hassan Ejibunu, who
represented the Minister of Aviation, said a Bilateral Air Service Agreement between both countries was signed in 2022 in Kampala, which culminated in the kickoff of the flight service by Uganda Airline in October.
He stressed that it’s important for
African countries to connect to ease the
movement of people and cargo and
assured that the government would
continue to ensure many African nations
connect in the spirit of the Single African
Air Transport Market (SAATM) and
Yamoussoukro Declaration.
On the flight fare Chief Commercial Officer, Adedayo Olawuyi, revealed the introductory fares: $600 for economy class and $1,665 for business class. These prices aim to make travel accessible, fostering connections between East and West Africa.
News Dot Africa reports that the Ugandan Minister of State for Works and Transportation, Hon. Fred Byamukawa; a Director in Nigeria’s Ministry of Aviation, Mr. Hassan Ejibunu; Nigeria’s Acting Commissioner to Uganda, Adebowale Oyeyemi; and the Chief Commercial Officer of Uganda Airlines, Adedayo Olawuyi, accompanied the envoy on the maiden flight.
