In 2016, the Government promised to revive Uganda Airlines. Todate, the structural and system arrangements are being set up. The key post holders were recruited and offices for Uganda Airlines acquired. Two CRJ 900 aircraft for regional flights were procured and delivered to Uganda on 23rd April 2019. An additional two CRJ 900 aircraft shall be delivered in September 2019. Two more aircraft (A330 neo) for long haul flights will be delivered by the close of 2020.
Following the delivery of the first two CRJ 900 aircraft on the 23rd April 2019, we informed the public that the airline will start flights after finishing the 5 phase process of obtaining the Air Operating Certificate (AOC). The airline has been working to complete the five phase certification process required to obtain the Air Operator Certificate (AOC). The five phases for AOC take approximately 90 days to complete as per the regulations. This informed the initial timeline to start commercial operations in July 2019. Considerable progress has been made on the certification process and currently the airline is at Phase 4, leaving only one more phase to be completed before the AOC can be issued.
Likely Delay to Start Commercial Operations
The targeted date for the issuance of the AOC to the Airline is 28th July 2019. This means that Uganda Airlines can fly after this date. Already, the booking, reservations, ticketing and accounting systems of Uganda Airlines which allow the public to buy tickets online are ready and have been activated in a “test” environment. The systems have been set up using provisional International Air Transport Association (IATA) designator and IATA accounting codes. The issuance of the AOC will trigger the activation of the codes in a “live” environment.
Uganda Airlines will need about 30 days from the date of receipt of the AOC to finalize the testing and setting up of the systems and processes as well as acquiring clearances/ operating authorizations from destination countries before embarking on commercial flights.
For the Airline to commence commercial flights, the systems and clearances have to be operationalized.
The systems and processes mentioned above include, among others, the following:
Activating the Airline Designator and Accounting Codes: This involves the activation of the booking, reservations, ticketing and accounting systems of Uganda Airlines. These systems have currently been set up using provisional IATA designator and IATA accounting codes and are under a test environment. Since the AOC is not yet issued, testing of integration platforms as well as completion of set up and training cannot be done at this time until after the AOC has been presented. The issuance of the AOC will trigger the activation of the codes in a “live” environment.
Designation of Uganda Airlines and applying for Foreign Air Operator Permits:
The Ministry of Works and Transport in conjunction with Ministry of Foreign Affairs have written to the destination countries requesting for acceptance of the designation of Uganda Airlines to operate on the various routes. The airline needs permission to fly to other countries as required by civil aviation and airport authorities. Before the operating authorizations can be granted by the destination countries, they need to study the Bilateral Air Services Agreements and the AOC to assess whether Uganda Airlines meets the requirements for operating on the various routes eg offices, staff, maintenance, catering and the safety issues. It should be noted that the BASAs allow the destination countries up to 30 days to accept the designation of Uganda Airlines on the various routes. It is therefore prudent to factor in the 30 days when setting the date for launching commercial operations.
Training of Some Key Staff
Training of some key staff including Flight Attendants is still going on. The training program will be completed by end of July 2019. On completion of the training, some of these staff will have to apply for Licenses from UCAA.
Revised launch date for commercial operations
In view of the foregoing, Uganda Airlines will launch commercial operations in August 2019 after completing the testing of system interfaces across entire airline distribution network to make sure that systems are working properly to book, issue and pay for tickets and finalise flight timetables and slots to all airports where it is set to fly and obtaining the permissions from the destinations and finalizing preparatory processes needed for commercial aircraft operations.
Regional Flight Destinations
Uganda Airlines will operate to all points in East Africa and right now is in the process of obtaining permission s to fly to all these destinations in line with Civil Aviation regulations. The launch routes will be Nairobi, Dar Es Salam and Mogadishu.
These destinations shall be operated first to orient staff and service providers in the Uganda Airlines Procedures and Standards. The destinations to be added after the introductory phase in August are Kilimanjaro, Juba and Mombasa. Other destinations after the delivery of the next two CRJ in September and conclusion of the permissions will be Khartoum, Kinshasa, Kigali, Lubumbashi, Harare, Lusaka, Addis Ababa, Hargeisa, Zanzibar and Johannesburg.
Bombardier’s Sale of CRJ 900 Aircraft Program to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd
On 25 June 2019, Bombardier announced the sale of their CRJ900 program to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (Japan). Bombardier has over 1500 CRJ series aircraft in service worldwide and about 40 aircraft sold backlog yet to be manufactured.
Bombardier has confirmed that sale of the CRJ900 program will not affect existing and future customers because the same customer services and support will continue under the new ownership for as long as the aircraft remains in service and beyond. The aircraft yet to be manufactured will be delivered in accordance with existing sale agreements and contracts. This applies to the two Uganda Airlines CRJ900 aircraft which are to be delivered in September 2019.
In essence the sale of the CRJ900 program is a change of ownership only. The company name has not been changed and its operations with regards to aircraft manufacturing and support will continue for the foreseeable future. The changes will not have any adverse effects on Uganda Airlines as a customer and operator of the CRJ900 aircraft.
Delivery of the 3rd CRJ 900 Aircraft
Uganda Airlines purchased four Bombardier CRJ 900 aircraft, two of which arrived in the country on April 24, 2019. The remaining two will be delivered in September 2019.
The third aircraft was supposed to be delivered in July 2019. However, due to some procedural delays, it will also be delivered in September 2019. The aircraft purchase agreement requires 30 days’ notice of delivery/acceptance of the aircraft, which notice would have been given at the end of June for a delivery in July 2019. Since the notice is yet to be issued by the manufacturer, the delivery had to be pushed forward.