A turbulent take off for Uganda Airlines

The first flight of the new Airbus A330 in October 2017, in France. The aircraft has proved unpopular among airlines. AFP PHOTO 

News about the purchase of four Bombardier CRJ900 and two Airbus A330-800 neo aircrafts by the government as the first steps towards the revival of the new Uganda Airlines has been greeted in the country with excitement and worry.

Excitement because finally the “Flying Crane” that was grounded in 2001 on the back of mismanagement and debt was about to return to the sky and fly the national flag. The worry for many Ugandans is that we seem to be starting the journey from the sky rather than from the ground and taking off into the sky.

This is because while there has been incessant talk about the project since the National Planning Authority (NPA) unveiled the feasibility study on the revival of the airline, Ugandans have not seen government put in place the fundamentals as regards the legal body, operating framework (human and technical) as well as the sticking issues at Entebbe airport that led to the collapse of the airline.

The airplanes will certainly not be on the runway at Entebbe International Airport tomorrow as it takes several months, if not a year or more for the manufactured to deliver the orders.

Having started from the air, it is urgent the government quickly get back to the ground and transparently puts in place systems, infrastructure and people that will deliver Ugandans’ dream.

The selfish, private interests that killed the old airline and others waiting to feed off the new bird must be neutralised beforehand.

Anything short of this will only guarantee the new airline a heavy landing that may leave its wings broken and millions of dollars lost from the sweat of Ugandans lost.

The internal issues aside, it is important that decisions pertaining to the operating environment are not taken with emotions driven by nostalgia but rather with hardnosed business sense.

Today, the regional skies are a little crowded and two other airlines – Air Tanzania and Air Zambia – are also returning to the skies this year.

For Uganda Airlines to rise and make money, it will have to avoid all political baggage – which it seems to have started with already. It will also be prudent to enter strategic relations with one or two of the existing big players to piggyback on them.

This means that the new airline must manage its ambitions and seek cooperation with big regional players rather than be driven solely by competition. These big players have buckets of money that they can throw around to muddle the skies for the news players.