Monday, 10th March, 2008
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By Emmy Olaki
WITH the entrance of the Aga Khan-backed Air Uganda, Entebbe Airport may at last have a chance to realise its potential as a regional hub, aviation authorities say.
Since the collapse of national carrier, Uganda Airlines, in the late 1990s, several airlines have tried to set up shop using Entebbe as their base and failed abysmally.
Alliance Air, AfricaOne, East African Airways, all came and went, their major undoing being their inability to take on a regional giant, Kenya Airways, on the lucrative Entebbe-Nairobi route.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says that in order to make any international airport busy, you need a strong home-based airline.
“A national airline is a strategic investment for any international airport or country because it insures you against becoming a place where other operators just come to drop and pick passengers,” Ignie Igundura, the aviation authority’s spokesman, said.
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However, there are high expectations in Air Uganda because of its financial backing from the Aga Khan Foundation for Economic Development (AKFED) and the technical backing from Meridiana, its sister company based in Italy, that has been operating flights for the last 40 years.
“We are projecting to break even in about one year. At the moment, our plan is to raise the level of service to the best standard at affordable rates to increase the level of air transport among the East African people,” Peter de Waal, the chief executive of Air Uganda, said.
Ismailimail 