The Ugandan Government has ordered the last minute cancellation of an agreement under which national carrier Uganda Airlines would have operated joint flights to the Gulf with Air Namibia.
The move came just four days after the two carriers signed a code-sharing agreement in the Namibian capital Windhoek on 18 September. The airlines had already started taking bookings and flights were supposed to begin on 26 September using an Air Namibia Boeing 747-400.
Michael Opagi, the director for privatisation in the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, says the deal had been put off to allow further consultation on how it would tie in with plans for the national carrier. The talks are expected to be concluded within two weeks, he adds.
Jennifer Musiime, the caretaker chief executive at Uganda Airlines, says the privatisation authorities had been informed of the intentions of the airlines before signing the code-sharing agreement with Air Namibia.
The arrangement with Air Namibia would have given Ugandan passengers the first direct flights to Dubai since Uganda Airlines abandoned the route last December.
Source: Flight International
