Uganda Airlines has yet to launch its London service almost 18 months after receiving its slots, with the exit of the UK from the EU playing a pivotal role in delays. Uganda’s carrier secured a morning landing slot at London Heathrow (LHR) back in March 2021, promising up to five flights a week between Entebbe and London.
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The early morning 06:00 landing slot came as a surprise to many, given how lucrative they are at LHR. For example, Oman Air paid a humongous $75 million for a sought-after 05:30 slot, while Air New Zealand sold off a pair of slots for $27 million in 2020 according to Simply Fly.
After initially penciling in a May 2021 launch date, Uganda Airlines then revised this to September 2021 before the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) demanded that it apply for a foreign carrier permit. This process takes around six months.
This permit was necessitated by the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU). Prior to this, carriers would apply to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) which takes a lot less time compared to the UK.
The former chairman of Uganda Airlines told the COSASE parliamentary committee that he cast doubt on Uganda Airlines’s plans to operate flights to London, claiming that the route is not viable. It should also be recalled that British Airways scrapped its London-Entebbe flights back in 2016 as they were no longer viable and encouraged Uganda Airlines to market its other planned international routes whilst expanding interlining agreements with other carriers.
The reason the company gives as to why they want to take on the London route is because of school children going there. Also, exporting agro products like vegetables, and pineapples there, flowers and when they are dropped in London, they can be carried to the Netherlands and elsewhere, since London is a gateway for many things in the region.
Uganda Airlines is still waiting for a foreign carrier permit to operate flights to the UK, over a year after the carrier acquired a lucrative landing slot at London Heathrow Airport. In April, the airline announced that its much-anticipated A330neo flights to London will commence in November with a thrice-weekly service, but this might not happen.
Currently, Uganda Airlines flies to just a single non-African destination (Dubai) despite promising up to seven destinations abroad, including Guangzhou, Amsterdam, Mumbai, and London.
