President Yoweri Museveni has asked Uganda's perennial corrupt officials to stay away from the revived Uganda Airlines.
Museveni said he should not hear or smell an ounce of corruption in Uganda Airlines because the country has invested a lot of money and time in the project. Museveni made the remarks during a ceremony at Entebbe VIP terminal (old airport) to receive the country's first Airbus aircraft, Airbus A330-800Neo manufactured in France.
Museveni said it was God who guided Uganda not purchase the American Boeing aircraft that have been crashing and killing people.
"I congratulate Ugandans for having your own airlines. And to you the staff, I urge you to stop corruption. Don't allow corruption in the new airlines. I don't want to hear a smell of corruption in the new Uganda Airlines. And I thank the Airbus for making a new product. We were wise not to buy the other American one - the Boeing which has been crashing and killing people. God is there, he's the one who guided us," said Museveni.
The second Airbus is expected to be delivered next month. Some of the guests who attended the ceremony at Entebbe to receive the aircraft included Jules-Armand Aniambossou, the ambassador of France to Uganda, Shri A. Ajay Kumar, the High Commissioner of India and UN officials.
According to Museveni, the government had initially wanted to buy Boeing 737 Max airliners but with God's guidance and wisdom, the technical team opted for the Airbus. On July 28, 2018, Uganda Airlines, represented by Ephraim Bagenda the then CEO, signed an MOU with Airbus for two A330-800Neo aircraft.
Safety issues have characterised operations of Boeing's 737 Max airliners in the last two years including the October 2018 and March 2019 air crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia respectively. Both crashes killed a total of 346 people. Victims who perished in the Ethiopia crash included Uganda's commissioner of police Christine Alaro.
Investigations into the two crashes revealed that the manoeuvring augmentation system in both aircraft had malfunctioned, resulting in the deadly air crashes. As a result, the airliner stopped manufacturing the 737 Max aeroplanes in January 2020
Museveni says reviving the national carrier is one of the ways the government will create jobs and also generate income so that Uganda becomes self-sufficient in various sectors including air travel. He said it would have been better if the East African countries had pooled resources for an airline to operate regionally and internationally to the benefit of East Africans.
However, since this seemed a tall order, Museveni says Uganda went solo to offer a solution to air bound Ugandans who are often inconvenienced by several stopovers. Museveni said he rejected the idea of limiting Uganda Airlines to just the regional routes, with some advising Uganda to first maximise the regional routes before venturing on long haul international routes.
"Uganda is not part of that group that will dance to the tune of this one that one because you're too lazy to work. They do that with people who are lazy to work, for us we building our own capacity, our own money. My only problem has been bad budgeting by some of the actors but once we sort that one out, there is nothing we cannot do. We now have our own airlines with the two legs; the regional leg that is done by the CRJs [Bombadiers] and then this one [Airbus] for the international one. The concept that we refused was that we remain a regional airline and feed into somebody else. I said no, am not going to feed into the back of anybody, I want to go to the final destination myself," said Museveni.
Museveni earlier said there is no reason why the revived airline can't succeed even by just taking in a portion of the $400m Ugandans spend annually on air travel.
Gen. Katumba Wamala, the minister for Works and Transport, says the arrival of the aircraft is a befitting "Christmas gift from Museveni to Ugandans". Katumba lauded his predecessor, Eng. Monica Azuba, who attended the ceremony and other technocrats for their contribution towards the revival of the national carrier.
Cornwell Muleya, the chief executive officer Uganda Airlines says the arrival of the new aircraft is historical because Uganda is the first country to receive the A330-800Neo, a new version of the A330 series in Africa.
He says the new aircraft and the second one expected next month will allow the airline to operate long haul flights to Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Uganda Airlines carried over 78,000 passengers between August 2019 to March 2020 from 9 destinations. Since October, the airlines has since resumed operations on all its 9 regional routes due to a steady increase in the number of passengers. Entebbe International Airport was in April closed to commercial flights following the outbreak of coronavirus disease.
Muleya adds that the airline has carried out recruitment and training for its staff to ensure smooth operations. The airline currently employs 273 staff of whom 227 are Ugandans.
About A330-800 Aircraft
According to a representative from Airbus who attended the ceremony, the A330-800Neo aircraft can fly for 14 hours non-stop and has all the latest technology to ensure safe and smooth air travel. It belongs to the A330 new generation family. The family has two versions-A330-800 and A330 -900.
The A330-800 aircraft reduces fuel consumption by about 25 per cent per seat compared to the A330 airliners in operation. It is also powered by Rolls-Royce's latest generation Trent 7,000 engines and features a new wing with an increased span, a new A330 XWB- inspired sharklets and airspace cabin amenities include passenger inflight entertainment and wifi connectivity systems.
The new aircraft has a total seat capacity of 258 seats configured in three-class layout. Of these, business class with a 1-2-1 layout, has 20 reclinable seats, premium economy has 28 seats with a 2-3-2 layout while the economy class has 210 seats in a 2-4-2 layout.
Roger Wamara, the Uganda Airlines commercial director earlier said that the Airbus will start commercial flights at the end of January 2021. Its first flight will be expected to Dubai-United Arab Emirates.
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