The revived Ugandan Airlines will fully be functional starting August 28, for the first time in 18 years.
The Airline will have its favoured booked routes out of the country to its initial destinations in Mogadishu, some in Nairobi
Mogadishu is currently followed by Nairobi, whose bookings are fast coming in and are expected to peak as the flight date draws closer. The national carrier will start with flights to Nairobi, Dar-es Salaam, Juba and Mogadishu.
The first flight is expected to leave Entebbe at 6.00am and land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi at 7.15am. The Mogadishu flight will leave Entebbe at 5.37pm and land at Aden Adde International Airport at 8:00pm.
As reported by EatAfrica paper , Uganda Airlines commercial director Jenifer Bamuturaki said that more clients have booked the Mogadishu flight than any other, although she did not give numbers.
Uganda has a relatively large Somali community living in Kampala, many of whom are keen to travel to their homeland.
“The increased bookings are because of a high demand along this route, and also because we are offering direct flights from Entebbe to Mogadishu,” Ms Bamuturaki said.
Uganda Airlines is currently the only airline flying direct from Entebbe to Mogadishu. Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airways make stopovers at their hubs before connecting.
“With time, we will increase the number of flights from Entebbe to Mogadishu from the current four a week to six a week,” Ms Bamuturaki said.
The revived airline also has plans for two daily flights to Nairobi and Juba, and one daily flight to Dar es Salaam, which will be plied by four Bombardier CRJ 900s aircraft, two of which arrived in the country on April 24.
