Uganda Airlines has announced three additional routes to its flight network, which are projected to increase the national carrier’s revenue by 10 per cent.

The new routes are from Entebbe to Abuja in Nigeria, Lusaka in Zambia and Harare in Zimbabwe. Uganda Airlines reported a 62 per cent increase in revenue to Shs 230.4 billion in the year ended June 30,2023, which was a significant growth from Shs 141.7 billion reported during the same period in 2022.

However, despite the positive growth, the airline still fell short of its revenue target by 46.8 per cent. According to the auditor general’s report, there was a 22 per cent increase in losses to Shs 352 billion from Shs 265.91 billion.

According to Adedayo Olawu- nyi, the chief commercial officer of Uganda Airlines, the network expansion is positioning the airline for profitability as it moves to break even and minimize costs and losses in the long run.

“Cargo is going to be a major driver for profitability of the new routes with the airline expecting to break even in the first 18 months of operation in these routes,” he said.

While announcing the new routes, Jennifer Bamuturaki, the CEO of Uganda Airlines, said that the entry into these markets is meant to build an efficient and optimized regional market, which will feed and finance a more profitable local market for Uganda Airlines as it grows its fleet and enhance aircraft utilization.

“We want to create a robust regional network that will serve as a feeder for our local market,” she said.

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She added that they will soon announce London and Guangzhou as new routes to add to its other destinations such as Mumbai.

“We would also like to tap into the markets in Harare and Lusaka, which are undeserved.”

Flights to Abuja will start on September 12, 2024, operating twice a week with the A330-800 aircraft. Whereas for Lusaka and Harare, flights will commence on September 25, 2024 flying four times a week using the CRJ-900 aircraft.

The addition of the three routes brings Uganda Airlines total flight destinations to 16, with the previous destinations of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Bujumbura, Johannesburg, Dubai, Zanzibar, Lagos, Kinshasa, Juba, Mumbai and Mogadishu.

The airline further plans to expand its routes to London, Jeddah, Guangzhou, Riyad, Cape Town, Goma, Accra and Khartoum in the near future.