The first two of the newly acquired Uganda Airlines aircraft have landed at Entebbe international airport. The Bombardier CRJ900s, flew in from Canada Tuesday morning.
The aircraft purchased are the first in the series to have the new cabin enhancements and Uganda Airlines will be the first airline in Africa to operate them.
The two aircrafts are half of the four that will form the foundation of the revived Uganda Airlines which is expected to officially take to the skies by June.
The aircraft will not immediately start commercial flights until they complete the Air Operator Certification (AOC certification) process.
The process has five phases and will take approximately 90 days to complete setting the timeline for start of commercial operations to be July 2019.
During this 90 day certification process, Bombardier will be showcasing the CRJ900 new cabin to other countries across Africa as a marketing strategy.
Currently Uganda has signed forty seven (47) Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) with other countries which will need to be activated.
Government recently requested Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, the manufacturer of both planes and trains to consider establishing a training and maintenance facility in Uganda.
The request was made by Works and Transport Minister, Monica Ntege Azuba as the company delivered the first two of four CRJ900 aircraft ordered by Uganda National Airlines Company in July 2018.
She told Mr. Fred Cromer, the President Bombardier Commercial Aircraft that the maintenance facility in Uganda will enhance Bombardier’s competitiveness in Africa.
“I also asked Bombardier to consider establishing a training [and] maintenance facility in Uganda to skill Ugandans and also enhance Bombardier’s competitiveness in Africa,” she said.
Mr. Cromer congratulated Uganda Airlines for taking delivery of their very first CRJ900 jetliner fitted with the ATMOSPHÈRE cabin in a dual-class configuration with 76 seats, including 12 first class seats.
He said that the CRJ Series is recognized for its superior economics and efficiency adding that he was confident that it will be the stepping stone for the development of Uganda’s regional air travel.
Relatedly, Entebbe International Airport has had a steady traffic growth of 7.9% annually.
In 2018, the airport handled 1.84 million passengers increase from 1.65 million passengers in 2017. The traffic flow means that Entebbe handled at least 5,027 passengers and 81 aircraft per day last year.
