Kadaga directs all MPs to fly Uganda Airlines on foreign trips

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has directed all Members of Parliament to always use Uganda Airlines on their foreign trips.

In an October 16, 2019 directive to the Clerk to Parliament, Kadaga says it is important for the Parliamentary Commission to ensure the national career is supported for the benefit of the country.

“I, therefore, write to you to ensure that all official trips of the Members of Parliament and the staff of Parliament while on official duty to a destination where the airline operates are scheduled with Uganda Airlines,  ”the directive reads in part.

The national carrier was finally revived early this year after being down for 20 years since its collapse.

Uganda Airlines last month received two new Bombardier CRJ900s to grow their fleet to a total of four aircraft at a function held at Entebbe airport.

Consequently, the national airline started commercial flights on August 28 with direct flights from Entebbe to Nairobi, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Juba, Bujumbura and Mogadishu.

Last month, it was announced that nine new routes including Kinshasa, Zanzibar, Asmara in Eritrea, Hargeisa(Somaliland), Lusaka, Harare, Johannesburg  Djibouti and Addis Ababa will soon be added onto their schedule.

Uganda Airlines also expects to get two new Airbus planes in the next two years for long-distance flights and early this year orders for the A330-800 airliners were affirmed.

Speaking at the function of the Uganda Airline’s inaugural flight, President Museveni in a speech given by Rugunda said the national carrier will earn government an extra $450 million that was in the past going to other airlines.

“Each year, Ugandans were donating $450 million to other countries through foreign travels and this is a lot of money,” Museveni said in his speech delivered by Rugunda.

“There has never been a better time to resume commercial flights than now when the number of passengers is increasing every day.

Recently, Kadaga asked Ugandans, especially those in the diaspora to stop criticizing the national airline.

“We recently launched Uganda Airlines but don’t join those criticizing the airline. We need your support to market it. The aviation sector is an example of the great opportunities that Ugandans living abroad can invest in,” Kadaga said during the 31st UNAA Convention and Trade Expo in Chicago, Illinois two months ago.