Michael Wakabi/KAMPALA
Uganda Airlines has been wound up after 24 years of operations, while two carriers which had aimed to fill the gap are still some way from launching passenger services, leading to a widespread crisis of capacity. Worst hit is the Entebbe-Nairobi trunk route linking Ugandan capital Kampala with its Kenyan counterpart.
The airline stopped issuing tickets on 7 May after it was ordered to do so by official receiver Twebaze Bemanya, appointed by the Ugandan Government. The carrier had already given notice of its withdrawal from various code-share agreements as long ago as February.
A planned $5.5million worker buyout of Uganda's assets and liabilities failed to materialise after the group could not obtain bank guarantees, but it may still bid for the airline's name and some routes.
The group had been talking with Air Tanzania about joint Entebbe-Nairobi operations on a route dominated by Kenya Airways. Air Tanzania says it is keen to introduce an element of competition on a route where overbooking is common and which is suffering most from Uganda's collapse.
Relief may yet come from Anglo-African carrier DAS Air Cargo. London Gatwick-based, it has a hub at Entebbe and plans to launch a passenger service in June, to be known as Africa One.
DAS already owns the 30% of defunct East African carrier SA Alliance previously controlled by Uganda, and has been granted a passenger licence plus route rights to London, Johannesburg, Kigali, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Lagos. But managing director Daisy Roy says it is still negotiating for landing slots at those destinations.
DAS says a longer term plan could see it establishing Africa One at other hubs - especially Lagos and Dubai. Planned start-up Air Africa, which had also targeted the Ugandan market, has so far failed to get off the ground.
Source: Flight International
