Uganda Airlines have come under the spotlight again, after the Ugandan Parliament approved their request for additional funding towards an extensive aircraft purchase. Data from ch-Aviation shows that the Ugandan government have given a $119 million further spending requirement to buy a number of aircraft to meet growing passenger demands.
A Plan with Promise or simply Political Posturing?
This is in the hopes to expand their cargo capacity and meet the increase in demands over further routes which had unexpected delays/cancellations for passengers. It is also believed to be a strategy to boost their finances when they experienced previous difficulties during a similar exchange in 2023/4 when the airline lost close to $67 Million. However Finance Minister Matia Kasaija seems to think it shows promise, given that he announced a new budget in July.
How has this news been met by others?
This development has been met with scepticism by some politicians, Ibrahim Ssemujju disagreed with the decision, and In a formal statement he said:
“The ministry is requesting more than KES400 billion to purchase new aircraft for Uganda Airlines, yet the country has not recovered from the Bombardier deal, where we purchased aircraft that were already being phased out…a thorough due diligence process must be presented.”
However Jenifer Bamuturaki, the CEO of Uganda Airlines does not buy into the criticism. She believes that these factors were outside of the airline’s control, saying that:
“When you’re given a NOTAM [Notice to Air Missions], you have to change your schedules, and that causes a delay,”
Minister of Works and Transport, Edward Katumba claims that 40% of traffic is handled by their main airport in Entebbe, and that it is “overstretched” to keep up with the rising demand.
Do you have concerns or feel like the money could be used for other infrastructure?
